A Family Broken
by ReelTreble
Summary: Goblins have attacked the Mountain where the dwarves of Erebor have made a settlement. Now Thorin must race back home to save what family he has left as young Fili and Kili have to try and make it out of the mountain alive.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! So this is the edited and hopefully better version of chapter one. I would really liked to thank everyone for their reviews as well as everyone who have favorite and alerted this story! I am very new to this whole writing and posting thing so I appreciate your support! BTW I still do not own The Hobbit :(

Please enjoy!

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Chapter One

"Fili take your brother and RUN! Now; GO!" Dis yelled to her eldest son as the horde of goblins crashed through the entrance of the caves they and many Dwarves have lived in since the fall of the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

"No we cannot leave you!" Fili yelled back over the commotion; his younger brother Kili stood next to him clinging with his small hands to his older brother's arm; tears flowing freely down his face.

"Fili listen to me; you must take your brother and hide; I will be fine. When it is safe I will find you again I promise; I just need you and your brother safe. Can you do that for me dear one?" Fili gave his Mother a quick nod of his head with tears threatening to fall from his eyes, for he was 10 years old and knew the truth was not in his Mother's words. "Good boy now go quickly before the goblins come this way!"

Kili pulled himself from his brother's grasp when he tried to pull him to the small tunnel in the back of the cave. "No mama!" Kili cried "Please don't leave us."

"My sweet little one, we will see each other again. For now you must go with your brother until it is safe. Please do this for me." Kili nodded his head and leaped into his Mother's arms. He was quickly joined by Fili as Dis tried to send all of her strength to her boys in that last hug. She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds and pushed her babies away to the back of the caves.

"Now go and you must promise me that you will both look after each other; make sure each other is safe for you are brothers and that is what brothers do." Fili and Kili both nodded their heads.

"I will protect Kili with my life Mother."

"And I will always keep Fili safe mama." Dis looked into her beautiful sons eyes and wiped their tears from each little face.

"That is all I can ask from you my sons. Now go quickly!" Both boys turned and ran to the small tunnel in the back of the cave and started to crawl away to what Dis hoped was safety.

As they entered the small secret passageway they heard a terrible scream ripe from their mother's throat and then nothing but the horrible laughter of the murderous goblins that had broken their lives into pieces that day. Kili started to scream for his mother but Fili quickly place his hand over his mouth and gathered his younger brother into his arms; rocking him back and forth while whispering soothing and comforting words to try to calm him down. Kili was only 5 years old and was not easy to calm after what had happened.

"Kili please you must calm down or the goblins will find us. Please."

Whimpering Kili replied "What are we going to do now?"

"Now we make our way to the outside and try to find help."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"I don't know Kili I… I will think of something; just please; we need to be as quiet as possible."

The passageway was almost too dark to see; but it was small; unknown and most importantly very hard to find. After Fili was able to quiet his brother down they started to make their way through the tunnel in search of an exit; so they could find help. Their progress was slow because of the uneven ground and darkness; many times did one trip and fall but the brothers were determined to find a way out. As time went by the young dwarflings started to become tired; but the sounds of the goblins could still be heard making it hard to settle in for sleep. Suddenly Kili yelped in surprise as he tripped and fell into a rock. He screamed and curled into a ball while crying. Fili was at his brother's side in seconds

"Kili, Kili! Are you alright? Look at me?!" Crying Kili looked up at his brother.

"I don't want to keep walking, please can we stop?" Fili looked at his brother who now had a small cut across his forehead from the fall. He could see Kili trying to battle the much-needed sleep that each brother was so desperately in need of and knew they had to stop.

"Yes Kili we can rest for a short time; but we must keep going soon."

"Thank you Fili." Kili said as he rested his head on his brother's shoulder. Fili leaned his back against the rock wall and pulled his brother closer so he would be more comfortable.

"Fili…. will the goblins get us as we sleep?" Fili could hear the tremble in his little brother's voice and tried to comfort him. Even if Fili was just as scared as his brother; he was the oldest and had to be brave for the both of them.

"No Kili we will be safe in here. The goblins won't be able to find a way in and if they do I will protect you while you sleep; just rest little one." Both boys' eyes watered as Fili used their mother's nickname for Kili.

Crying Kili looked up at his brother. "I want mama Fili."

"I know brother but we have to try and be brave; like Uncle Thorin" Kili closed his eyes and took a big breath to calm himself.

"Okay, I will try." Fili wiped the tears from his younger brother's face and started to hum a tune to help him fall asleep; it wasn't long until he was asleep with his hand clenched in his older brother's shirt.

Fili rested his chin on top of Kili's sleeping head and closed his eyes; tears started leaking down his face as he remembered what all had happened that day. How did everything fall apart so easily? They had planned on having a family picnic in the woods down by the river. He and his brother were going to practice sword fighting with the wooden swords their Uncle Thorin had given them at his last visit and instead their home had been destroyed and their Mother killed. What in all of middle-earth were they going to do now?

"I just don't know what to do Kili." Fili whispered under his breath "I just don't know." Soon Fili also fell into a fitful nightmare filled sleep.

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Hopefully that was easier to read than before. I am editing my second chapter as we speak and it should be up for you guys very soon! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Hi everyone! First off I would like to say WOW! Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! I am thrilled with the way things are going with my first story so far and all of you are to thank for that. I was very nervous about posting my first story but I am really glad I did it. So here is chapter two, I struggled a bit with this one but I hope you all enjoy it! Please keep reading and reviewing! :)

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Lighting cracked across the sky and the deafening wind howled as the impending storm approached the small human city. It was late evening when most would be asleep in their homes, but a single building's lights shone out into the empty streets. Inside a dwarf worked to finish the pile of swords still needing to be sharpened. Thorin Oakenshield placed the newly sharpened sword away and went to work on the next in the pile, when the door to the forge suddenly slammed open revealing a darkened silhouette. Thorin pulled out one of the sharpened swords and held it in defense against this unknown intruder.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Thorin ordered.

"Is this how you greet an old friend baring news?" Thorin chuckled with a small smile playing on his lips shaking his head he lowered his sword.

You could hear the amusement in Thorin's voice as he said, "Is this how you enter a room now Balin?" Balin walked through the threshold of the door toward his friend with a stony face and saddened eyes.

"Aye, it is when I'm in a hurry." Balin quickly shut the door to the forge and rushed to Thorin's side. "Thorin I bring grave news from the mountains."

"What is it? What's happened?" Thorin's voice cracked betraying the fear he felt. Balin looked at his longtime friend and by all accounts his King and did not know how to continue. Thorin's fear grew the longer it took his friend to answer his question. "Balin please tell me… what has happened!" Balin sighed and looked his King directly in the eyes.

"I am sorry Thorin but the mountain has been attacked by goblins. They have taken control of the lower tunnels and the living quarters."

Fear, fear that had not been felt since fighting the dragon Smaug gripped at Thorin's heart and his blood turned to ice running through his veins. His eyes telling of his fear he looked to his old friend and asked in a shaky tone. "What of Dis and the boys?"

Balin sadly shook his head, "I am sorry Thorin, but we do not yet know of their fate. No one has seen them, but I fear the worst." Shaking his head the distraught dwarf king turned to face away from his longtime friend. Thorin closed his eyes and saying a silent prayer he let out a shaky breath. Balin watch sadly as he tried to imagine how Thorin was feeling. To lose one's entire family was a fate he would not wish on anyone, not even his worst enemies and to lose ones as young as Fili and Kili was truly unthinkable. Balin was not even sure Thorin would be able to fully recover from something so terrible.

After a moment of silence Thorin turned back to face his friend and longtime advisor with determination shining brightly in his eyes. He would not give up on his kin, not now, not ever.

"Then we must find out what has happen to them. I will not abandon them Balin!" Not waiting for an answer Thorin walked quickly past the aging dwarf to the door with purpose.

"Thorin we should not leave now. There is a large storm approaching! We would not make it back in this weather." The king gave no indication that he had heard the dwarf and kept his pace to the door.

"I will get us ponies so that the journey will be faster. I need you to find Dwalin and tell him what has happened. If he will join us, I would be forever grateful." Nodding Balin turned to follow Thorin out the door.

"I will seek out my brother as you asked, but Thorin you must prepare for what we might find when we get back." There was a small pause as Thorin lifted his head and straightened his shoulders. He looked to Balin with fierce determination.

"If there is any way I can save my dear sister and nephews, I will do it Balin."

Sighing sadly Balin replied "I know laddie…. I know."

Even in the late hour Thorin made quick work of finding someone to buy ponies from. He made even quicker work of saddling them up with everything they would need for the journey back home. The dwarf King was just putting the finishing touches on the saddles when he heard loud voices coming from down the alleyway to his right. Turning his head to listen, it took only a moment to know who it was coming his way.

"I just don't see how this could have happened! How did those filthy things get into the mountain in the first place?" Dwalin roared out in anger.

"Brother I have told you all I know."

"If one hair on those boys' heads is so much as out-of-place, I'm gonna rip every last goblin limb from stinking limb!" Dwalin's voice increased with every word,

"Keep your voice down! Some people try to sleep at this time of night." Sighing Balin added "I think you will have to get in line, if Dis or the boys are hurt I don't think there is a force in this world that could stop the wrath that Thorin will bring."

"Aye and I will be right there with him."

"As will I brother, as will I."

Even in this dire situation Thorin could not help but smile, how those little devils managed to turn hardened warriors into mother hens was beyond even him. Thorin's thoughts turn dark again as he thought of losing his mischievous little nephews. He could not lose any more of his kin, Thorin had already lost his Grandfather, Father, Brother he could not lose Dis and his nephews as well. If only he did not take this job away from home he could have been there to protect them all. Balin was right, if even a hair was missing from his family's heads, the goblins would pay dearly!

As Dwalin and Balin neared the ponies a crack of lighting lit up the sky and rain started to fall. Dwalin moved swiftly to stand next to Thorin while Balin hurried to a pony. Thorin turn to face Dwalin and each dwarf gripped their right arms together in greeting.

"Thank you for coming with us Dwalin, I will never forget this." Thorin said sincerely.

"Think nothing of it my friend. I care for Dis and the boys like they are my own. I will not let anything happen to them!"

More lighting and a loud bang of thunder broke through the night and the ponies started to stomp their hooves nervously.

"We have to hurry I want to be back at the mountain by dawn!" Thorin ordered over the noises of the storm. The company quickly set off in the direction of the mountain, each hoping they wouldn't be too late to save the people dear to them.

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So what did you guys think? Next chapter should be up in a couple of days. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone! I'm back with chapter 3! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I can't wait to hear what you guys think about it. As always thank you to everyone who have been reviewing and following this story, as well as to everyone who has added this story as a favorite. I am really happy you guys are enjoying what I have written! I have started writing ahead in the story and can't wait to show you some of the other chapters I have worked on. Now enough of me talking! Enjoy chapter 3!

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Chapter Three

Thorin, Balin and Dwalin rode hard all night and through the terrible storm to try to reach their goal by daybreak. The storm had stopped a few hours before, but the small company of dwarves could still feel the lingering effects of the weather. Their clothes were soaked from the cold rain and their bodies would shiver as the falls morning wind cut through their wet clothes and chilled them to the bone. They made their way over the final hill that led to The Blue Mountains just as the sun was rising over the horizon. As they approached the mountain settlement they saw a large group of dwarves gathered around the caves entrance. The small company of dwarves hopped off of their ponies and rushed to the group to see what was happening. As they neared the group Balin saw what they were doing. The dwarves were removing what looked like bodies from the mountain and placing them in an ever-growing pile of poor souls waiting for a proper burial. When Thorin reached the entrance he took no time in making his presence known.

"What's happening here?" The whole group turned and stared in shock when they saw who was yelling to them. It was Gloin who seemed to be leading the group that regained his composure first and answered Thorin.

"Thorin thank the ancestors you're here! There is only so much someone can do with a bunch of toy makers and merchants!"

"Hey I'd say us toy makers and merchants have done a pretty good job so far!"

"Well of course I didn't mean you Bofur. Your skills are un-match by any other toy maker."

Bofur turned to Gloin with a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Why thank you Gloin."

"ENOUGH!" Thorin bellowed catching the attention of the entire group. Balin placed a steady hand on Thorin's shoulder to try to calm him.

Trying to defuse the situation Balin said "Gloin perhaps it would be good if you told us what the situation in the Mountain is. Yes?"

Gloin coughed and grumbled under his breath. "Well yes of course. We have pushed the goblins back into the lower levels and were in the process of treating the wounded and removing the dead from the living quarters." Hope swelled in Thorin's chest at the mention of survivors.

"Have you seen Dis and the boys?" Both Gloin and Bofur faces fell.

"No we haven't seen them. They weren't with the first group of survivors." Gloin said to Thorin eyes locking with his King.

Bofur looked between Dwalin, Balin and lastly Thorin with a hopeful expression on his face. "We have not reached that far in the living quarters yet, there may still be a chance they're down there."

Thorin took a moment to process all the information the dwarves had relayed to him and after he steeled his face he started barking out orders.

"Gloin and Bofur continue your work. Once the living quarters have been taken care of I want you to gather as many possible fighters as you can find and get ready to clear the lower levels. Dwalin, Balin and I are going to head further into the living quarters in search of survivors. My first priority is my family, I need to find them and make sure they're unharmed. After we have done this we will meet you in the market place to help clear the lower levels as well." Gloin and Bofur nodded their heads in understanding and Thorin turned to the entire group. "We must make haste in our tasks. We must make these filthy goblins pay for hurting our loved ones and invading our homes!" The group of dwarves erupted into a loud cheer that could be heard for miles as they all set off to do what needed to be done.

A sudden crashing noise jolted Fili awake. Disoriented it took him a moment to remember the previous day's events and when he did he could not stop the cry of sadness that escaped his thirst cracked lips. His younger brother Kili still lay sleeping in his arms and Fili wasn't sure he had the heart to wake his brother to this horrible reality. A reality where they were orphaned, cold, hungry and alone trapped in a dark tunnel surrounded by the shrieks and laughter of the goblins. However, the eldest heir to the Durin throne knew they needed to keep going. If they didn't move soon Fili and his brother would surely perish from hunger and thirst, or they could still just as easily be found by the goblins. Shaking his little brother gently Fili tried to wake him.

"Kili… I… I need you wake up for me." Kili blinked several times and started to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"No Fili tell Mama I don't want breakfast, my head hurts." Fili looked at his brother with tears starting to appear in his eyes.

"Kili you need to wake up. We… we have to keep moving." Kili started to fully wake and looked up at his brother.

Staring into his little brother's big brown eyes Fili could see the very moment when Kili was remembering the horror that had happened the previous day. Fili could always read exactly what his brother was thinking and feeling, but in this moment he wished he could not. In that moment it was not just Kili who remembered what happened, but Fili also had to relive it. To see the pain on his brother's face when he remembered hurt Fili so deeply, he felt as if the breath was knocked from his lungs. Kili started to cry hysterically for their Mother, it was the worst Fili had ever seen his brother and he did not know how to help him.

"Kili shh please relax. It's okay I won't let anything happen to you. We need to keep moving so we can find a way out." But Kili was not listening.

"No Fili we must go back! We have to help Mama. We have to do…do something!" At this point in Kili's crying he started hyperventilating and Fili began to panic.

"Kili please you have to stop crying! Listen to me you must breathe!" Listening to his little brother struggling to breathe Fili lost what little composure he had as he gripped Kili's shoulders and started to lightly shake him. "Please stop! Stop! You can't leave me too!... Please. Fili's shoulders dropped in defeat and his broken voice cracked as he started to cry with his brother, he could not lose him as well. Not his innocent baby brother Kili, who would cry over the death of a small spider that their Mother would kill and who sat by his bedside never-leaving him by himself whenever he was sick.

Kili nodded his head and tried to stop crying because it was hurting Fili and he loved his brother. He did not want to hurt him, but he couldn't breathe like he asked him to. Fili noticed that Kili was still having trouble breathing so he gathered his brother into his lap and wrapped his arms around his chest.

"Its' okay Kili just focus on my breathing…. breathe like I am okay. In and out," Kili did what his brother told him to do and it started to work. "Good job Kili, just in and out." Finally after what seemed like hours to Fili Kili's breathing returned to normal and the boys set out to try to find an exit to this nightmare.

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So? What did you think? I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and I hope you keep reading and reviewing. Reviews are always helpful. As always I wish you all a fantastic and wonderful day!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone I was able to update a little sooner than usual! Here we have chapter 4, hopefully you all enjoy it. I have a few cute Fili and Kili moments that I loved writing! Thank You again to everyone who has supported me and my story. I could not do this without you guys! ENJOY!

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Chapter 4

"Is it an orc?"

"No"

"Okay, is it a cave troll?"

Kili giggled as his brother guessed wrong again. They had been traveling for hours in the darkness and to distract Kili from the dehydration and hunger pains Fili had suggested a guessing game, a guessing game in which Fili was losing.

"Alright Kili, can you describe it to me one more time?"

"Okay! Its big and scary with a face like this." Kili started to growl, twisting his features into what he tried to make a scary face, but to anyone else looked adorable as he raised his hands up into fists. After a moment Kili then put his hands on his hips with a stern expression on his face. Fili could not help but laugh when he saw how serious Kili was trying to be. Laughing Fili stopped walking and turned to get a better look at his brother, who was still waiting for his guess.

Sighing Fili told his brother, "I give up Kili. What is it?"

Kili also started to laugh as he revealed the answer to his stumped brother. "It's Uncle Thorin when he's mad!" Both brothers shared a smile, then out of nowhere Kili jumped in surprise.

"Fili look there's a light!" Fili whipped his head in the direction that Kili was pointing and sure enough there was a beam of light breaking through the darkness. The smiles on both boys' faces grew as they thought about finally making it out of the dark and to safety. Suddenly Kili started to race down the tunnel towards the light yelling to his brother behind him.

"Race you to the light Fili!"

Fili quickly set off after his still giggling brother and made it to the source of the light only seconds before Kili.

"That's no fair you have bigger legs than me!" Kili said pouting.

"Well you're the one that wanted to race in the first place. It's not my fault that you're shorter than me." Fili replied while investigating the crack in the tunnel wall. The crack was small but Fili thought it would big enough for Kili and himself to fit through. Fili wasn't sure where they were and didn't know if he should risk both of their lives without knowing. As Fili was trying to decide if going through the crack was a good idea or not, Kili sped past him and ran for the exit.

"No wait Kili!" Kili stopped in his tracks and turned to face Fili with a confused expression on his face.

"Why? I thought Mama told us to find a way out?"

"I know what Mother said Kili." Fili lightly snapped back.

"So why did you stop me?"

"I just wanted to think for a moment. I don't want us to go running in there and run right into the goblins."

Kili look at his brother terrified. "You don't think the goblins are out there do you?"

Fili could see Kili near tears and felt like kicking himself for scaring his little brother again. Fili said gently, "No Kili, I just want to be as careful as possible."

Looking less frightened Kili replied, "Okay Fili, I understand. What do you think we should do?"

Fili looked between the crack and Kili again and took note of Kili's appearance. He had large dark circles under his glazed eyes and the cut on his forehead seemed to look red and puffy, he also seemed to sway slightly on his feet. When he saw the state his baby brother was in, Fili knew they had to at least try to see if the crack led to an exit.

"We need to get out of here, but Kili I want us to be really careful and quiet. Can you do that for me little brother?"

Kili nodded enthusiastically and moved to stand next to his brother. Fili went through the crack first and looked around to make sure everything was safe. That was when he noticed something was wrong, they had gone the wrong way. Instead of heading in the direction of the entrance to the mountain, they were in the mines where the older dwarves worked. The light they had seen coming through the crack was the torches used for lights in the lower tunnels. Fili was torn on what to do next. He knew they needed to get to help quickly and could move faster outside of the dark secret tunnel. However, he didn't know how safe it would be to travel outside of the tunnel. Fili didn't see any goblins around, but that did not mean they were gone. Before Fili had a chance to decide what to do Kili was tumbling out of the crack and painfully landed on his feet.

Fili yelped in surprise and pain, "Ow, Kili!"

Kili looked up from his spot on Fili's feet and gave his brother the most innocent puppy dog eyes he had perfected. "Sorry Fili, but you were taking so long and I thought the goblins might have gotten you."

Sighing Fili helped his brother off of his feet and brushed the dust off of his clothes. "Its' okay Kili, no goblins got me."

"Good let's go!" Kili started to move but Fili grabbed his arm and stopped his forward momentum. "Ow! What's the problem now Fili?"

"We are in the lower level Kili, we went the wrong way."

Shaking his head Kili started to get upset again, "we are never going to make it out of here Fili!"

"No Kili that's not true. We will make out of here, you'll see."

Sniffling Kili shook his head. "No Fili we won't and no one is coming to save us."

"Kili look at me." Fili held his brother's shoulders and knelt down to be eye level with him. "I promise you that we will make it out of this nightmare and I also promise that I will never let anything bad happen to you."

Staring at his brother Kili asked so quietly that Fili had to strain his ears to hear him, "Promise?"

Fili could see the absolute trust in Kili's eyes as he looked at him. It was as if Fili could make everything all better with one word.

"Promise,"

Fili held out his hand for Kili to take. "Come on then, let's get moving. I for one am not going to miss another meal. I'm a growing dwarf you know."

Kili laughed at his silly brother, this was exactly the reaction that Fili was hoping for and they started making their way towards the market place.

Thorin felt his heart sink even farther when his small rescue group made it down to the living quarters. He had not seen destruction like this in a very long time and he never expected to have to see it here. On a battlefield it made sense, but not here. The Blue Mountain may not be their home, but it was as close as they were going to get, until the day comes when they reclaim Erebor.

It was awful to see what the goblins had done. The farther they went into the living quarters the stench of death grew and soon it became so great that any normal being would have had trouble continuing. However, Thorin, Balin and Dwalin were anything but normal, they were hardened warriors and sadly the smell and sight of death was nothing new for them.

Their progress was slow, much too slow for Thorin's liking, but it was important to keep their heads and make sure they did not miss anything. As they made their way through the death and destruction, each dwarf in the small group had taken turns in checking every single body they came across for life. The group was half way through the living quarters and had yet to find a survivor. They journeyed in silence not daring to break the quiet of the dead unless absolutely necessary. Their feet crunching on the debris was the only noise to be heard echoing off of the abandon walls.

"Wait a moment Thorin." Balin asked suddenly as he placed a strong hand on Thorin's arm stopping him in place. Thorin snapped his eyes to look at Balin in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"What's wrong? Why have you stopped us like this Balin?" Thorin growled furiously his eyes glaring at his friend.

"I just want you to prepare yourself. We will be at the house in a matter of moments and I am sure you have noticed how the destruction has gotten worse the closer we come. It may be that the goblins got in around this area. That means they would not have had much warning to escape." Dwalin stood next to his brother like a stone, arms crossed as he looked on sternly. Thorin knew Balin was trying to help, but did not appreciate being held back.

Thorin pulled his arm free from Balin and barked back, "I am well aware of what we might find, but I will not cower because of the possibilities!" Thorin turned sharply and started swiftly making his way around the corner into the passageway that held the answers to his family's fate.

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There it is chapter 4! What did you think? I can't wait to see what you guys will say about the next couple of chapters! I have been having a blast writing them. Hopefully the next chapter should be up in a couple of days. Thanks for reading! Until next time, have a wonderful day!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter 5! I know the beginning of this chapter might feel a bit like filler, but I really wanted to check back in with some of the other dwarves. Trust me the end half will definitely make up for it! Thank you to everyone who has supported my story, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter Five

The market place was alive with commotion as the dwarves rushed to arm themselves and prepare for a long night of fighting. Bofur and his brother Bombur were organizing the fighters to make sure everyone was ready to set out the moment Thorin and his group arrived. This task was mostly being done by Bofur, as he was constantly having to catch his brother and get him back on task before he could sneak away to eat. On the other side of the market Gloin was checking how far along his brother Oin was in gather the medical supplies needed for the fight.

"Oin how far along are you?" Oin continued gathering herbs unfazed by brother's question.

Gloin grumbled and walked closer to Oin, giving his brother a light whack on the back of his head. Oin's head snapped up and his eyes searched for the owner of the hand that hit him. An intense fire settled in his eyes until he spotted Gloin looking at him, arm crossed over his chest and amusement in his eyes at his brother's reaction. Irritated Oin went to retrieve his ear-trumpet from the table in front of him.

Once he had his ear-trumpet in place Oin asked Gloin in a rather annoyed voice, "Now what can I help you with Gloin? Perhaps I can lend you a small hammer, that way you can really get my attention next time."

Both dwarves stared each other down for a few tense moments, until they broke out into loud hearty laughter.

Gloin clapped his brother on the shoulder, "Aye a hammer would do nicely." The laughter continued for a while longer until Oin realized he still didn't know what his brother wanted.

"No really Gloin what brings you over here? Do you not have a small army to get ready for battle?"

"I do and part of that is to make sure we have a fully stocked and ready healer with us." Gloin looked like he was going to continue talking, but before he could continue his brother cut him off.

"And you came to check on my progress. Well I have almost finished getting everything I will need, but I have been helping some of the other healers treat the already wounded. I could use a little help gathering the last of my supplies, if you wouldn't mind finding me someone."

Gloin laughed and replied, "Of course brother, you know how much I love ordering others around."

Oin looked as if he was about to comment on what is brother had said, when they both heard loud arguing coming from a crossed the market place. Gloin turn to confirm who he thought the voices belonged to and found his guess was correct. With a short sigh he turned back to his brother, "Looks as if I am needed elsewhere. Help is on the way brother, hang-tight."

Gloin started to make his way through the crowd of dwarves to defuse the situation. When he reached his destination he had to quickly duck as a ring sausage flew towards his head.

"What do you two think your doin?" Gloin bellowed each word slowly.

Bofur and Bombur turned to see Gloin standing close to them with a face flushed red with anger.

"Oh, hello there Gloin we were just, err… talking. Yes we were just talking."

"I can see that Bofur. Everyone in the market can hear your discussion."

Bofur chuckled, "I am truly sorry Gloin. I was just trying to keep Bombur on task. It won't happen again."

Gloin shook his head, "Aye alright, see that it doesn't." But Bofur wasn't listening to Gloin. Instead he was looking out into the dark passageway that they stood in front of.

"Hey did you hear me Bofur!" Gloin gruffly yelled.

Bofur snapped his head back to face Gloin, "No sorry I… I thought I saw something down the tunnel. It was probably nothing." Bofur said slightly embarrassed.

"Fine, get back to work or I'll be telling Thorin it was both of your faults if we aren't ready when he arrives."

Gloin's words sent all the dwarves into action as they went their separate ways to finish their jobs. Leaving what might have been seen in the darkness forgotten.

As Thorin turned the corner he could see his sister's house and his heart started to pound painfully against his chest. He slowed his steps and cautiously made his way to the front door. When he reach the house Thorin could see that the door had been broken open and the furniture in the living room overturned. As he entered through the doorway his eyes started to water slightly at the state the house was in, but he quickly shook them away. Thorin knew that Balin and Dwalin had lingered back outside to give him privacy, but remained ready to rush in at the first sign of trouble. Thorin did not know what he was going to find, but he appreciated that if the worst did come to pass, he could grieve in private.

Quietly Thorin made his way through the house and soon came a crossed a couple of dead goblins. A small smile made its way on his face, his sister had fought back. The rooms were a mess like the goblins had chased them through the entire house and he saw orc and dwarf blood in almost every room. This made the job of tracking the movement of the fight easier, but gave way to horrible thoughts. Eventually Thorin had looked through the every room in the house and still found nothing. Frustrated Thorin stormed back outside through the front door.

"There is nothing but signs of a fight in the house!" Thorin yelled out to Balin and Dwalin once he was out the doorway.

Both dwarves looked up sharply from where the stood close to each other, like they had just been talking quietly. They quickly walked over to their leader to help search for clues, they began looking around the house and surrounding areas. Thorin grew anxious the longer they went without a sign of where his family had gone. As Thorin was looking by the door for what must have been the third time, he heard Dwalin yell out to come quickly. Before his mind even registered what he was doing, Thorin was running to Dwalin's voice.

When he reached Dwalin Thorin stopped dead in his tracks and could not process what his eye were seeing. In a daze Thorin stumble slowly to what Dwalin had found and when he reached it his knees gave way. Thorin crashed to the ground next to his beloved sister's dead body and a sob of sadness escaped his lips. Thorin reached down and cradled his sister in his arms. She had several defensive wounds, but his eyes only saw the large sword wound that cut through her chest. Dis's eyes were still open and unseeing, her light, that sparkle that always had a place in her eyes was gone, replaced by nothingness.

"Dis, dear Dis I am sorry I wasn't here to protect you." Thorin's voice was barely above a whisper, as he talked to the sister he had failed. "I should have been here. I promised you long ago I would keep you safe and I failed. I hope you can forgive me." Silence followed Thorin's words and broke his heart. To know he would never hear his sister's strong voice again, hear her laugh or see her smile was unbearable. Tears started leaking down the dwarf King's face and fell onto his sister's stone cold cheeks.

Voice cracking Thorin made one final vow to his sister. "Dis I swear to you on my very life, I will find Fili and Kili and I will protect them with my last dying breath." Thorin paused to take in a shuttering breath "They will always know their Mother and how much you loved them. This I swear to you sister."

Pulling away Thorin place Dis back on the ground, he closed her eye lids and placed their forehead together in a final goodbye. When Thorin pulled away he kissed his sister's head and stood up slowly. His shoulder's hunched and head bowed as Thorin said a prayer for the dead. After a moment he straightened his body and turned to his longtime friends.

Dwalin and Balin both had sullen faces, each with a hand over their heart and heads bowed, saying their final goodbye as well. The dwarf brothers raised their heads and looked to Thorin for orders. When no order was given Balin approach his King.

Voice low Balin asked, "What do you want to do Thorin?"

Thorin looked at Balin with dull unfocused eyes that slowly regained their light. "We need to keep moving. If the goblins killed Dis when she was with the boys and they are not here with her, the goblins must have taken them for something."

"Then we should head to the market place and meet up with Gloin and Bofur." Dwalin said in a strong and steady voice.

Thorin nodded his head, "That is exactly what we are going to do. I cannot imagine what Fili and Kili have been through and I want them found NOW!" Balin and Dwalin quickly agreed and started making their way back towards the market place. As Thorin went to follow them he spared one last look at his sister's body, and then turned to save his only family he had left. No one noticed the small crack in the wall that Dis had protected with her life.

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So there it was, Thorin finally found his sister, poor Thorin. Let me know what you guys thought, reviews are always appreciated. I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 5! The next chapter will hopefully be up in the next few days! Until then, I wish you all a great day


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone! I have for you all, chapter 6! I hope you enjoy this exciting chapter. I had so much fun writing this one and cannot wait to hear what you all think about it. Thank you to everyone who has supported my story by reading, following, and reviewing! Also thank you to all those who have added my story as a favorite! You all are truly amazing. Please enjoy chapter 6!

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Chapter Six

Fili and Kili had been slowly making their way through the mines and were halfway to the market place. Each boy's health was rapidly declining, it had been two days with no food or water and they were feeling the effects. Hunger pains, dizziness, weakness, headaches and their nerves were going crazy. They were jumping at every noise, but worst of all was how scared they both were. The brothers had come across two small groups of goblins so far on their journey, but had been able to hide behind something to avoid being spotted. Fili had thought about heading back to the tunnel after encountering the first group of goblins, but heard a much larger group back the way they came, so they continued on carefully.

Suddenly the young dwarves heard the laughter of goblins heading their way again. Fili quickly and quietly grabbed his brother and lead him to a large boulder so they could hide. Both boys crouched down and steadied their breathing to remain as quiet as possible until the goblins moved on.

The group of goblins was the largest Fili and Kili had encountered so far with a count of six. The goblins entered the passageway the boys were hiding in and started talking in cackling voices.

"Ha did you see the look on his face when Carrek stuck him with that axe!" the largest goblin in the group said.

A small goblin with one eye shrieked with laughter and replied, "He squealed like one of the female dwarf scum!"

"Quiet you too! Carrek did not send us out here to gaggle." The goblin leading the group snapped as he turned to glare at the rest.

"Apologies Dorug, we meant only to boast about our gloriously wicked leader." The smallest one said with a bow to the leading goblin.

Dorug stalked quickly to the small one that dare speak to him and clamped his hand around its throat. Pulling the goblin in close so their faces were nearly touching Dorug spoke in a low dangerous tone, "I don't believe I asked you to speak on their actions Tarr."

After a few tense moments the leader of the group of goblins released Tarr and he scampered back with his head dropped low. "I am sorry Dorug, I spoke out of turn."

Dorug looked at the sniveling wretch and kick him forcefully to the ground. "Search the area!" he roared, his voice echo off the walls.

"Fili!" Kili whispered in horror as he clung to his brother's shirt and curled in closer to his chest. Both young dwarves had their eye shut tightly, when suddenly Fili was being ripped from his brother's hands. Kili's screams were masked by his brother's as the largest goblin pulled Fili out of their hiding spot by his hair, failing to notice the little dwarf still on the ground.

Fili started to struggle and fight, but was quickly overpowered by the large goblin when it grabbed both of his wrists forcefully in one hand and Fili's hair in the other. The large goblin yanked Fili over to Dorug as he announced his victory.

"Look what I've got."

"Oh look it's a dwarf babe." The goblin with one eye sneered, moving in close to Fili.

Dorug abandoned the jewel he had been looking at and stalked over to his new captive. "Well look at this. Carrek will be pleased to see what we found."

Fili began to struggle again and kicked the goblin missing an eye with enough force that it fell to the ground.

Dorug menacingly stepped over the fallen goblin and grabbed Fili's chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. "It looks like he has some fight in him, should be fun to play with." A sickening smile appeared on Dorug's face. Fili was staring into the hideous creature's eyes when suddenly the goblin flew to the side and landed heavily on the ground. He was quickly followed by the goblin holding Fili. In a daze Fili looked around to see what happened, only to find his little brother Kili standing not far away holding a fist size rock in his small hands.

"Leave my brother alone!" Kili shouted as he took aim and threw the rock at the goblin with one eye, knocking him again to the ground. Fili ran as quickly as his legs would allow to his brother's side. When he reached him they both turned swiftly and raced down one of the passageways. As they turned the corner they heard a loud murderous yell echoing off the walls from behind them.

They were running as fast as they could, but out of nowhere a goblin grabbed Kili around the middle and lifted him into his arms. Kili screamed and started kicking his legs trying to get free. Hearing his brother's screams Fili quickly snapped his head to face the struggle. Without thinking Fili ran at the goblin holding his brother and rammed into him head first. Caught off guard by the attack the goblin dropped Kili to the ground. Fili kicked the goblin swiftly in the leg, bringing him down to his knees, where a powerful punch to the face finished the job. Fili pulled Kili back to his feet and the brothers set off running again.

They turned down another corner and were faced with four more goblins. Shuffling forward the four goblins tried to wrangle the dwarflings. Kili ducked down low and slipped under the largest goblin's legs as Fili tripped the goblin reaching for him and they sped past their foes. The boys continued to run in the direction of the market place, but Kili started to slow, the weakness from not eating and lack of water getting to him.

Out of breath Kili wheezed out, "Fili wait I can't run anymore!" Then Kili started to cough violently. Fili quickly picked his brother up and slipped down a small dark tunnel to their right. Fili traveled down the tunnel for only a few moments before they ran into a dead-end. Placing Kili carefully on the ground Fili then sat in front of his brother, who was still trying to catch his breath. Right after Fili had settled on the ground the boys heard some of the goblins run past their hiding spot.

Once it was quiet again Fili relaxed slightly. "It's okay Kili just rest for a moment."

Before Kili even fully caught his breath he was talking, "Are you hurt Fili?"

"No Kili I am not hurt." Fili smiled widely, "Thanks to you little brother. You have great aim."

Kili looked to Fili with wide eyes, "Really?"

"Yes Kili you just saved my life."

Kili leaped into his brothers arms and squeezed tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay Fili."

There was an unexpected noise that startled the dwarflings, it sounded like faint voices. Crawling closer to the entrance of the tunnel Fili and Kili were able to make out the words that were echoing off the walls.  
"No, no, no how many times do I have to tell you? We do not have time to eat! We have to help get fifty more dwarves ready for the fight! Plus you've had enough already."

Fili and Kili looked at each other with hopeful expressions on their faces. "Kili I think that voice is coming from the market place, we must be close!" Fili whispered urgently.

Kili nodded his head in agreement, "Fili that sounds like Master Bofur from the toy stand!"

"What do you two think your doin?"

Fili jumped up to his feet, "That's Master Gloin Kili! We have to hurry! Can you run a little farther?"

Kili moved to stand on unsteady feet, but gave his brother a firm nod. "Yes I can."

"Okay come on, we need to get to the market quickly."

Fili and Kili slipped silently around the corner and started running towards the familiar voices. "Kili look, the market place!" Fili pointed to a spot not from where they were. In the distance they could see three dwarf outlines, but were still too far away to see them clearly.

It looked like the brothers might make it to the market place that was just within their reach. As they were about to scream for help large hands clamped over their mouths and strong arms lifted them up, pulling them away from salvation and back into the darkness. They struggled to no avail as Dorug came into their line of sight. He now had dark black blood running down the side of his head where Kili's rock had struck him.

Dorug walk over to stand in front of Kili and started to pet his head. "Do not cry little one. We are going to have so much fun." He then grabbed a fist full of Kili's hair making him muffle out a cry of pain. "I am going to make you regret throwing those rocks."

Fili started shouting at the goblin that had the nerve to hurt his brother, but the shouts came out muffled because of the filthy hand still clamped firmly over his mouth. Dorug laugh and turned his head to look at Fili. When he was sure he had his attention he pulled on Kili's hair again, extracting the same responds from both dwarves. Dorug's smile widened farther at the obvious pain he was inflicting on the young dwarf brothers.

"Let's get them back to camp. I want to introduce Carrek to our new little friends."

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Cliffhanger! I hope you guys had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it! Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading and have a great day!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! I would like to first say I am sorry for how long it took me to update. I had an extremely annoying project due for class, which took me forever to complete. I did make this chapter the longest chapter in the story so far to hopefully make up for the late update. Thank you as always to everyone who has been supporting my story. Now on with the chapter!

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Chapter Seven

Left, right, right, left, left, and then right again, Fili's head was spinning. He tried to keep track of what direction the goblins had taken him and his brother, but they were making far too many twists and turns as they delve deeper into darkness. After Fili and Kili had been taken far away from the market place, the goblins holding the brothers uncovered their mouths and tied their hands harshly in front of their small bodies. After Dorug was sure that the little dwarves were secure, he ordered the group to set out on the very long trek back to the goblin's camp, through the cold and dark mines.

Kili continued to cry and struggle uselessly against the horrible goblin that held him tight. Fili tried to talk to Kili hoping to comfort him, but the goblin holding him would not allow it. Every time Fili tried to speak to his brother the goblin would tighten his hold or hurt him in some other way. Fili didn't care what the goblin did to him. All he cared about was helping his brother, so Fili continued trying to get his attention. This task was not easy for Fili since the goblin holding Kili was walking ahead of him and Kili was making too much noise for him to hear his older brother's voice.

"Let us go! Please stop! Put me down right now you icky goblin! Fili please help me! Where is my brother?! Let me see my brother now!" Kili screamed with a hoarse and broken voice as he sobbed.

"Kili its okay, everything will be alright. Just stop struggling before they hurt you." Fili tried to yell to his brother over the commotion, earning a hard yank of his hair for speaking.

Dorug was losing his patience quickly, so he started making his way over to Kili in the hopes of shutting him up. When Fili saw the vicious goblin moving towards his little brother with the intention of hurting him, he started to struggle against the goblin holding him and shouted to Dorug.

"NO! Please, just let me talk to him. I can get him to settle down, please."

Dorug turned to glare at Fili and looked as if he was going to come over and hurt him, when he suddenly smiled. "Okay, you can see him." Dorug walked slowly over to Fili and leaned in close. "But if you can't get him to stop screaming, I will cut out his tongue and make you eat it."

Dorug let his horrible words sink in before bellowing, "Drop them!"

The moment Fili's feet hit the floor he was running to his brother's side. When he reached him Fili lifted his tied hands over Kili's head and hugged him close. He let Kili cry into his chest for a few moments before whispering to him.

"Kili you need to stop fighting them or they are going to hurt you. Please I don't want them to hurt you."

Kili was crying too hard to respond to his brother so he just shook his head no into Fili's chest.

Sighing Fili continued, "I need you to trust me brother. I'm trying to think of a way for us to get out of this. I just need you to let them take us back to their camp without causing any more trouble."

"I don't want to go with them! Please don't leave me Fili." Kili was clinging to Fili for dear life, but his crying had lessened.

Fili had silent tears falling down his cheeks. "I know Kili I don't want to go with them either, but we need to keep being brave for just a little while longer. I am sure by now Uncle has heard about what happened and is coming for us. We just have to hold on until he arrives."

Kili nodded slowly against Fili chest, "I'm scared Fili."

Fili closed his eyes and as he spoke his next words to Kili his voice crack with emotion. "What do I always do for you when you have a nightmare?"

Kili looked up and into Fili's eyes, "You fight the monsters and make the bad dreams go away."

"That's right little brother. I will always protect you and I'm not stopping now."

The sniveling goblin Tarr slowly walked over to the dwarfling chuckling, "Times up dwarf babes."

Fili instinctively curled himself over Kili's little body as the two largest goblins walked forward to separate them. As they moved closer Kili started to shake in fear and Fili drew in a breath, trying to hold his head high like his Uncle Thorin. When the goblins reached them they harshly yanked the brothers' apart and made Kili yelp in surprised fear.

Fili looked at Dorug pleadingly, "Please just let me walk with him. I promise we will not run away."

Dorug just smiled and signaled the goblins to move out. He then walked up to the front of the group so he was walking right next to the goblin holding the now quiet Kili. Slowly Dorug started to pet Kili's head again as if he was an animal, making Fili's blood boil.

Thorin, Balin and Dwalin made their way quickly through the mountain to the market place. When they arrived they saw a large group of dwarves armed and ready for battle. With stone faces the three dwarves made their way through the group to find Bofur or Gloin. Dwalin was the one that spotted the two dwarves and they swiftly moved to join them at the front of the group. Gloin, Oin, Bofur and Bifur were standing in a small circle speaking in low tones, overlooking the dark entrance to the mines.

As Thorin and his group approached Gloin looked up and smiled, "Ah Thorin, good. Everything is ready for us to take back the mountain!"

By this point everyone in the small group was looking up at the new arrivals. Bofur had a worried expression on his face as he asked, "Thorin did you find Dis and the little ones?" Everyone was looking at Thorin's face for the answer, but his expression was unreadable.

He coughed to clear his throat before answering the question in a husky tone, "Dis is dead and Fili and Kili were nowhere to be found. We think the goblins must have taken them for some reason."

The dwarf's faces were a mixture of horror and sadness as they heard the terrible news. Bofur dropped his head shaking it back and forth, Gloin let out a low growl, Bifur turned to face out into the darkness of the mines and Oin stood still as a stone, his eyes shut tight. All of the dwarves knew and cared for Dis and young Fili and Kili. To hear that the loving, strong and sometimes scary Dis had been killed, was truly an awful tragedy. Seeing the way the dwarves were taking the news of his sister's death was breaking Thorin's already shattered heart. His little sister really did touch the lives of so many and she would be forever missed. Thorin felt like breaking down after seeing the dwarf's faces. If they were taking the news badly how would Fili and Kili take their Mother's death?

The moment Thorin thought of his nephews his resolve strengthened, turning to face all the dwarves gathered he spoke to them in a way only a leader could. "Now is not the time to mourn our lost. Now is the time to fight to save those we can. We must take back the mountain or die trying! Who's with me?"

"AYE!" The dwarves in the market cheered together. They were all ready to stand against the goblins and retake their home. Thorin and his company of friends stood together looking over the group assembled. Not all of them were warriors, but each one had a fire in their eyes.

Thorin allowed a small smile to come to his face, "That's what I thought. Break into groups! We will have to spilt-up to check all the different passageways in the mines. I do not want one single goblin escaping this mountain!"

Thorin turned back to face his friends and continued to give out orders. "Gloin and Bifur I want you each to take a third of the dwarves gathered here and head in different directions. Dwalin, Balin and Bofur I want you three with me, we will be looking for the goblins main camp. Oin I also need you to come with me. Hopefully your healing services will not be needed, but when we find Fili and Kili they might be."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and gripped their weapons tight as Thorin continued. "We need to clear out every single passageway and all the tunnels. It will not be an easy task, but I know we can do it."

As soon as the dwarves entered the mines they ran into goblins. The group of goblins was small and had less than fifteen enemies. They were quickly cut down by the dwarves with Thorin, Gloin and Dwalin taking down two each. Soon they reached a fork in the passageway where the groups planned to split off into their own directions. Bifur's group headed down the tunnel to the left, Gloin took his group right and Thorin's group continued on straight.

As Thorin's group continued down the passageway they started passing by short dark tunnels, so Thorin sent groups of four dwarves down every one of them. Suddenly a large force of goblins leaped out of the darkness of the tunnels and attacked.

Thorin had to duck as a filthy curved sword swung for his head. The goblin fighting him was swinging his sword back and forth wildly. In one swift motion Thorin spun under the sword and as he can up he sunk his weapon deep into the goblins middle. After the goblin's lifeless body fell to the floor Thorin quickly glanced around to see if anyone needed help, before running at the next goblin.

Dwalin slammed his War Hammer into the chest of one, two then three goblins knocking them back into the cave's wall with a loud crunch. Balin was fighting not far from his brother slicing down every goblin that came near.

The small battle was over quickly with the dwarves being victorious. Wiping the goblin blood that had landed on Thorin's face from the fight, he looked around the area before sending more dwarves down the rest of the tunnels.

Thorin's group had dwindled down to only a few, after having sent the rest of the dwarves down many of the tunnels to clear out the rest of the mines. Left in the group was Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Bofur, Oin and five other dwarves. They started making their way down the pathway again, when something small and silver caught Thorin's eye. Walking over to the object the dwarf King knelt down to investigate what it is he saw. He picked it up and slowly stood, staring at his hand.

Balin walked over to Thorin curiously, "What have you found Thorin?"

Thorin lifted his head and his eyes met Balin's, "its Fili's hair bead that Dis made for him on his last name day." Hope swelled in Thorin's chest as he addressed the group. "Fili and Kili have been here."

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There you have it, chapter seven! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We are getting closer to the end, probably only two more chapters left! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter, reviews are extremely helpful! Thank you for reading and have a delightful day!


	8. Chapter 8

Hi there! It is time for chapter eight and there is a lot of Kili and Fili in this one! I cannot say how much I appreciate everyone who have been supporting my first story, it is very encouraging. Thank you all again! Enjoy! :)

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Chapter Eight

The goblins were finally nearing the camp after hours of traveling deeper into the mines. At some point in the journey Kili and Fili fell asleep from exhaustion, still being carried by their captors. The unexpected shrieks of multiple goblins jolted Fili awake and he was alert to his surroundings immediately. Fili quickly started to look around for any possible way to get out of this mess and what he saw crushed his hopes of escaping the goblin camp with his brother completely. Fili looked around trying to count the goblins that were in the camp they just arrived at, but the number was far too many. The camp was in an enormous cave at the end of the mines with smaller caves attached to it. As he was looking around the camp, Fili could see that the goblins had gathered many jewels from the mines. All the jewels were piled up into carts, as if they were planning on transporting them somewhere. There was also a huge fire-pit in the middle of the camp that looked to be the size of four full-grown dwarves. Around it were filthy and bloody goblins cooking, eating, drinking and laughing.

Once the goblins in the camp noticed Dorug's arrival, all of them looked up to see what their second in command had brought into camp. Fili tried to shrink into a small ball hiding away from the prying eyes of the hideous creatures, but he could not hide from the noises piercing his ears. The goblins started cackling and taunting the captives as Dorug walked his group to the back of the camp, where a small tunnel was located.

They entered the tunnel and after a few moments of darkness, light assaulted Fili's eyes. Blinking several times Fili was finally able to see where the goblins had taken him and his brother, who was now also awake and looking at Fili with terror in his wide eyes. Reluctantly, Fili pulled his eyes from Kili's and looked ahead to where Dorug was walking. Dorug stopped and dropped down onto his knees, bowing his head in respect. Above him was the largest goblin Fili had ever seen, sitting on a rock formation that looked almost like a throne. Looking closer at the goblin Fili could see that it had a scar running a crossed its face, starting around the ear and traveling down under its left eye, ending under the chin. Also, where the scar began he could see that the tip of the goblin's ear had been cut off. The large creature was looking past Dorug and staring directly at the young dwarf brothers, still being held captive. He then slowly tilted his head to finally look at his second in command, who was still kneeling in front of his leader.

The foul creature's voice was deep and haunting when he spoke. "Dorug, tell me, why did our King send us here to this dwarf infested mountain?"

Dorug still kneeling on the floor looked up at Carrek, only to immediately avert his eyes to stare at the ground. "What, what do you mean Carrek?"

The large goblin slowly stood up from his makeshift throne and looked down at Dorug menacingly. He was breathing deep and heavy trying to contain his anger. "What I mean Dorug is given that our mission is to kill as many dwarves as we can, while retrieving jewels and riches from the mountain. Why is it that you bring me two ALIVE DWARF CHILDREN?!" Carrek roared making all the goblins in the cave shrink in terror.

Dorug looked around wildly in fear, trying to think of what to say to explain his selfish actions. "I thought we could have some fun with them."

Carrek had Dorug dangling by his throat faster than Fili's eyes could process what he was seeing. The oxygen deprived goblin struggled uselessly, trying to pry Carrek's hand from his throat. As Dorug was pleading with his leader Fili's focus was on Carrek's repulsive hand. Around the throat of the goblin Fili could see that Carrek was missing two and a half fingers on his left hand. Fili's eyes traveled to the goblin's right hand, which now held a wicked looking dagger and had a large scar over the back of the hand that lead all the way up his arm.

Still holding the goblin in the air, Carrek addressed the rest of his people. "No one here is allowed to make any decisions! You do as I say or you will all DIE!" Carrek's voice boomed through the entire cave. He then released Dorug, who crawled backwards away from his leader as quickly as he could.

"I am sorry Carrek. I will dispose of the dwarf scum now."

"NO!" Fili yelled as Dorug started towards his baby brother. "If you hurt him, I swear you will pay."

Carrek started to chuckle from his spot back on the throne. "I can see why you wanted to play with this one. He has a fighting fire in him. Bring him to me."

Carrek smiled at the look of horror that passed Fili's face as well as the scream that came from the little one's mouth. He watched in amusement as Kili struggled against the goblin holding him, trying with all of his might to help his brother. To his surprise Kili actually managed to wiggle free from the hands of his captor. When he hit the floor Kili rolled onto his feet and ran at the evil goblin carrying his older brother. On his way to the goblin he picked up a dagger from the floor and cut the goblin in the leg making him drop Fili. Sadly, the victory was short-lived, as they were near enough to Carrek that he lifted Kili into his arms and roughly pulled the dagger from his hands in one swift motion. Fili quickly yanked the sword from the goblin that had just been holding him and turned to face Carrek.

"Let my brother go!" Fili yelled forcefully, his face showing his undeniable panic.

Carrek laugh and threw Kili to the floor at Fili's feet. Kili screamed in pain from the impact, Fili was there in a heartbeat gently pulling Kili up and close to him. He then held his brother with one arm, while the other held the sword in untrained defense.

The goblins in the room were closing in on the two dwarf brothers, but Carrek held up his hand to signal they stop their approach.

"Do you really think you could fight and beat me boy?" Carrek sneered while leaning in closer to the brothers.

"If I have to." Fili said back with such conviction that even Carrek was taken by surprise.

Carrek's face suddenly grew angry and in a flash he used the dagger taken from Kili to knock the sword from Fili's hand. Then pulled Fili towards him using the front of his shirt. He then placed the dagger against Fili's cheek and as he spoke to the little dwarf, Carrek pulled the blade back creating a thin cut. "I am going to enjoy killing you and your kin."

Fili tried to pull out of the horrible creature's grasp, but when he realized that wasn't going to work he looked Carrek in the face with a determined gaze. "If you hurt me or my brother, our Uncle Thorin will kill every last one of you."

Carrek's eyes widened in surprise and a wicked smile made its way to his face. "Uncle Thorin you say. Would that be Thorin Oakenshield?"

Fili refused to answer the creature's question, but Carrek knew he was right. He released Fili, who then fell back to the floor next to his brother. Carrek stood up from his chair slowly and looked over the goblins left in the room. He stood still, thinking for a moment and no one dared move. The only noise in the room was the ragged breathing and small whispers coming from the young dwarf brothers, as they held on to each other tightly.

Unexpectedly Carrek pointed to a small goblin that had a bleeding cut down his face. "You!" Carrek shouted, his voice booming. "I want you to take some scouts and find the rest of the hunting parties. I want them back here, NOW!"

The goblin looked at Carrek, then around the room slowly. "I thought our King wanted us to find all the dwarf's riches? We have only searched half the mines."

Carrek glared at the insolent goblin and walked over to him slowly. "The King has placed me in charge of this mission and what I say you do, without question."

The goblin was panicking the closer Carrek became and he started backing away until his back hit the wall. When Carrek reach the goblin he did not hesitate in grabbing its shoulder as he drove his dagger into its chest. The goblin gasped and shrieked in pain as Carrek slowly and deliberately twisted the dagger, making a sickening wet sound bounce off the walls. Hoping to shield his brother from the violence, Fili had quickly pulled Kili's face to his chest and turned his head away when Carrek first struck the goblin.

As the lifeless body fell to the floor, the goblin leader turned to another of his people and gave out the same order as before. This time the goblin did not question his leader, it just bowed low and quickly ran for the exit. Carrek turned again, but this time he walked over to Dorug, who had watched the events curiously.

"Dorug I would like you to make our new guest comfortable, make them feel at home. Do not harm them too much and do not let them out of your sight."

"Of course Carrek, but I thought you wanted them killed. Why do you care who their Uncle is?"

"Do as you are told and I may let you keep one after I am finished with them."

Dorug smiled wickedly, "I will do everything in my power to make them feel right at home Carrek."

Dorug and the goblin with one eye grabbed Fili and Kili and dragged them towards the tunnel, but before they left the room Carrek called out to them.

"Oh and Dorug, kill the goblin that let the little one escape."

Dorug bowed to Carrek in understanding then continued to pull the boys out of the room. After they left Carrek turned to Tarr and smiled. "It seems we will be able to complete our task after all."

Tarr bowed to Carrek, "I knew you would find him eventually my lord."

"I want you to keep an eye on Dorug. We are so close to finally achieving our goal and I don't want him killing my leverage too soon."

"It will be done Carrek." Tarr said as he silently slipped from the small cave.

Alone in the room Carrek moved swiftly back to his throne, when he reached it he sat down with a malicious smile on his face.

Dwalin watched as his brother slowly approached Thorin, hoping to see what he found. From where Dwalin stood at the other end of the tunnel, he had to strain his ears to hear what Thorin said to his brother in a quiet and disbelieving voice.

"It's Fili's hair bead that Dis made for him on his last name day."

Dwalin's heart filled with hope, hope that until now seemed impossible. Maybe they could still find Fili and Kili alive. Maybe they could still grow up to become great warriors and continue on in life, as it should be.

"Fili and Kili have been here."

Dwalin felt himself smiling at the hopeful expression on Thorin's face as he began looking for more signs of his nephews. Dwalin immediately joined Thorin in his search for clues and glanced around quickly to scan the area. He saw that the other dwarves had followed his actions and were also checking for tracks. As he looked around the small space of the tunnel, Dwalin saw an odd grouping of rocks close to a large boulder and bent down to get a better look at them. On the ground there were three fist size rocks about the length of a goblin apart from each other. Dwalin picked up one of the rocks and held it into the light and what he saw confused him. The rock appeared to have goblin blood on it, looking back down at the others he saw they were also coated with blood.

"Thorin, come and take a look at this." Dwalin said in a raised voice.

Thorin was by his side in less than a heartbeat. "What have you found Dwalin?"

Dwalin lifted the rock up and handed it to his King. Thorin gripped the rock and flipped it over looking closely at the blood on it.

"It looks as if someone used these rocks as a weapon against the goblins."

"It does. Do you think it was Fili and Kili?" Dwalin said looking directly at Thorin.

Thorin smiled slightly, "Those boys would do anything to keep each other safe. I would not put it past them."

Both Dwalin and Thorin stood and started tracking the way the dirt had been kicked around during and after the fight. Finding a definitive path the goblins had taken, the group set off again in search of the young dwarves, with renewed hope in their hearts.

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Wow longest chapter so far! Let me know what you think, reviews are always welcome! :) Until next time, have an inspiring day!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoy chapter nine. I had a very difficult time with this one, probably the hardest chapter to write so far. It took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to start it and how I wanted to end it, but I feel like it worked out in the end. Hopefully you all agree. I also really liked what I did with Thorin in this one, but you will have to read the chapter to find out what I'm talking about. Thank you, as always to everyone supporting my story! I could not do this without all of you! Now read on and enjoy!

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Chapter Nine

Fili and Kili too tried to struggle, let Dorug and the goblin with one eye drag them back through the tunnel and into camp. They were roughly pulled to the closest small cave to Carrek's room and Fili was tossed to the ground of the dirty cave, which would now become the brother's cell. Fili jumped quickly to his feet as he anticipated what the goblin would do next. Because Fili was up and ready, he was able to catch Kili as he was also thrown into the cell. As soon as Fili had his brother in his arms, he moved them both to the very back of the small cave and positioned himself in front of Kili. Dorug stood in the doorway sneering at the way Fili was protecting his brother.

"Get comfortable little dwarf scum. I'll be back very soon." Laughing Dorug left the boys alone for the first time in what felt like days. The awful goblin with one eye stayed just outside the cave's opening, guarding the cell to insure there were no more escape attempts.

Finally with a moment of peace Fili turned to his little brother to check him for injuries. "Kili are you okay? Tell me what hurts."

Kili was crying softly and had curled up into a ball on the floor. When Fili saw Kili he dropped to the ground next to him and gently lifted his brother's chin up to get a look at his face.

"It's okay Kili everything is going to be fine. Uncle Thorin is coming for us."

As Fili lifted his brother's face up he could see the cuts and bruises that covered the side of his face that had hit the ground in Carrek's throne room. "Oh Kili," Fili breathed out. Shaking his head Fili had to pause to breathe in an uneven breath, as he tried to stop from crying. "Tell me what hurts little brother."

Big brown tear-filled eyes looked at Fili and Kili started talking in a shaky voice, "Everything hurts Fili. I want to go home."

Fili's heart broke at the way his brother's voice wavered and broke ever further when he heard his answer. "I know Kili, I want to go home too and we will as soon as Uncle gets here. Can you tell me what hurts the most?"

Kili nodded but immediately stopped and winced, "My head hurts and my side hurts every time I move." Kili looked to Fili with pleading eyes, "Fili please, make it stop hurting."

Fili took a moment to compose himself before continuing with his brother. "Okay Kili, let me take a look and I'll try to fix it."

After another slight nod from Kili, Fili began to check his brother's injuries. Fili gently moved Kili's head back and forth trying to see what was causing him pain. When Fili looked at the side of Kili's head that hit the floor, he could see that there was a small amount of blood running down his neck. Fili took a closer look and noticed that his brother had a little cut hidden in his hair behind his right ear. Thankfully the cut's bleeding had already slowed to the point of almost stopping.

Fili then slowly lifted Kili's shirt up to see what happened to his side. It was hard to see in the darkness of the makeshift cell, but even in the low light Fili could see a large darkening bruise covering his brother's entire right side. As Fili replaced his brother's shirt Kili whimpered in pain and closed his eyes tightly, making a few stray tear slip down his dirty face.

When Fili saw the pain Kili was in he felt hopeless, he had no idea what to do to help him. Fili was the older brother and the person Kili looked to for help. He was supposed to be able to protect Kili, no matter what and he failed.

Fili started to cry, startling Kili. "I am so sorry Kili…. I promised that I would never let anything bad happen to you and now look at us! Please forgive me brother!"

Fili was so caught up in crying that it took him a moment to notice that Kili was now clinging to him. Fili returned the hug as gently as he could, to not hurt Kili's side again. Then Kili did something that Fili didn't think he would ever feel again. Kili started to rub small circles around his back, just like their mother would when one of her sons were upset. The comforting gesture brought an unexpected smile to Fili's face and he pulled back to connect his forehead to his younger brother's.

"It's not your fault Fili. You saved me from the really big scary goblin."

Fili gave a half-hearted tear-filled laugh, "You saved me first."

Kili smiled widely at his brother, "Well, that's what Mama said brother's do."

Fili returned his brother's smile, "Right you are, little brother."

Kili shifted his weight on his brother's lap, making Fili abruptly yell in pain. Kili looked at Fili with wide eyes. "Fili are you okay?"

Fili clenched his teeth breathing deeply though his nose. After a moment of silence, that made Kili panic Fili was able to speak again.

"Don't worry Kili, I'll be fine." Fili tried to give his brother a reassuring smile, but stopped in pain from the cut on his cheek.

"No! Fili you're hurt. What's wrong? Please tell me."

Fili had tried so hard to not think about his wrist that he fell back on in the throne room. He didn't want to scare Kili anymore than he already was, but now Kili knew something was wrong and he was not going to let it slide. Reluctantly Fili lifted his left hand to show a swollen bruised wrist.

Kili gasped at the awful sight, "Is it broken?"

Fili sighed, "I don't know Kili. I don't think so."

Kili leveled his brother with a determined stare, "We need to wrap it like Mama did to Uncle Thorin's arm."

Fili couldn't believe his brother even remembered the night their Uncle came back from a job injured, let alone remembered how their Mother treated him.

"Good idea Kili! Here help me rip this."

Fili carefully handed Kili the bottom of his shirt and together they were able to rip a good long piece of fabric off. They used the fabric to unskillfully wrap Fili wrist, then sat back against the wall side by side.

The brothers had just started to fall asleep when Dorug came slamming back into the cave loudly. Fili and Kili both jumped at the noise the creature was making and held on to each other protectively.

Carrying a bundle of something in his hands Dorug announced loudly, "I'm back!"

He then dropped the bundle to the ground, making a frightening metal clanking noise bounce off the walls. "And I brought toys."

* * *

The dwarves had been traveling down the passageway for some time now, without any further sign of Fili and Kili or where the goblin's camp was located. Thorin was becoming more and more distressed the longer they continued without evidence that they were moving in the right direction. Turning down yet another corner without success Thorin suddenly kick an abandoned helmet from the ground with a scream, the noise echoing off the walls. Dwalin and Balin moved to Thorin's side quickly.

In the hopes of calming him down, Balin move to stand in front of Thorin. "Stop this Thorin! You will alert every goblin down here to our location!"

"Good! At least then we would know that they are still down here and have not escaped the mountain with my nephews!" Thorin growled back.

"Bringing down every goblin to kill us is not going to help Fili and Kili. You must think Thorin!"

As soon as the words left Balin's mouth Thorin storm over to him and raised his fist to punch Balin. Balin waited for the hit, but a large strong hand gripped Thorin's wrist before he could continue the action. Still holding on to Thorin, Dwalin shifted his position so he was in the middle of Balin and Thorin. He stood there for a moment in stony silence until Thorin realized what he was about to do and dropped the glare from his face.

"You are right, I am sorry Balin. Fighting like this is not going to help anyone."

Satisfied that Thorin had calmed down Dwalin released Thorin's wrist and took a step back, so he was now at his brother's side.

Bofur's voice broke through the silence, "I really hate to interrupt you three, but I hear something coming our way and fast."

Thorin quickly snapped out of his self-loathing and worry, "Hide behind something. We might be able to follow them back to their camp, or at the very least get some information."

The dwarves hurried to follow Thorin into a dark alcove off to the side. The last dwarf vanished from sight only seconds before a large group of goblins rushed into the passageway the dwarves had just vacated.

"I'm telling you I heard something down this passage!"

The goblin with a bleeding cut running down his face smacked the talking goblin in the side, pushing him out of the way. "I don't care. Carrek wants all the goblins pulled back to camp now!"

"What is so important about these captives that Carrek wants us all to disobey our King?"

"That is none of your business or mine. Now move out!"

The goblins again started making their way towards camp and Thorin swiftly gave his group a couple of silent hand signals to follow closely and quietly.

The goblin group unaware of the dwarves closely following them, continued to make fast progress to camp. Until one shifty goblin stopped abruptly, making a few goblins in the back of the group bump into him. The goblin slowly limped over to an abandoned mining cart, in secret search of any leftover jewels. Of course in this very moment Bofur accidentally knocked the handle of his Mattock into the cave's wall. The handle knocked a few rock pieces to the ground making a distinct noise from behind the greedy goblins, alerting them to their silent followers. Cursing in Khuzdul the dwarves jumped from their hiding spot to attack.

Chaos ensued as the goblins rush the dwarves, but Thorin's mind was on one goal, finding the goblin in charge of bringing this group back to their leader. Standing in the middle of the battle Thorin's eyes searched every goblin's face for the bleeding cut and when he saw him, Thorin charged. He slammed his shoulder into an unfortunate goblin in his path, making it fly into the side wall and fall into a crumbled heap on the ground.

Continuing his surge Thorin was suddenly tackled to the ground by a very large goblin. Thorin swiftly pulled his hands up and punched the goblin a crossed its face with a solid fist. The attack seemed to stun the goblin, but it didn't budge from Thorin's pinned body. Regaining its senses the goblin turned back to Thorin with blood dripping off its mouth and gripped its hands firmly around Thorin's throat. Pushing its weight down onto Thorin's windpipe the goblin laughed in triumph as the dwarf King started to struggle for breath. Reaching for his blade that slid from his hands on impact, Thorin's sight began to fade. Finally Thorin felt the comfort of his blade against his numbing fingertips and pulled with all his might. In an instant the goblin laid dead next to the dwarf King as Thorin pulled in large mouthfuls of air.

After the dizziness faded, Thorin promptly rolled himself to his feet and looked around for his previous prey. However, the fight was almost won and the leading goblin was nowhere in sight. In frustration Thorin leaped at the first enemy he saw and cut it down harshly.

"Where did it GO?!" Thorin bellowed wildly.

Dwalin turned to his King bewildered, "Where did what go Thorin?"

"The goblin leading them! The one with the cut on its face! Where did it go?" Thorin glared at all the members of his group and clenched his hands into tight fists trying to control his anger.

Bofur look down in shame, "I was fighting the cursed creature. I Injured him with a deep cut in its side, but I had to split my focus when I was attacked from behind. I'm sorry Thorin, when I turned back it was gone."

Thorin marched over to Bofur, but before he could reach him Dwalin called out to the group. "We may still be able to follow it."

Balin walked over to his brother curiously, "What do you mean brother? Surely the cowardly creature is long gone by now."

"Yes, but it left a blood trail in its wake."

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There you have it! Chapter nine! I really hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter and where I am going with the story. I have ended up adding a couple of things that I did not plan on, but I love them. So this story may be a few chapters longer that I first anticipated! I really liked giving Thorin a bit of a breakdown. I know some people might not like him losing control, but I thought it was a nice moment to see just how much he is worried for his little nephews. Let me know what you thought of the chapter. I love reading your thoughts and really appreciate everyone's help! Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Finally here is chapter 10! I am sorry for how long it has taken me to get this chapter posted, but hopefully the length and contents should make up for the wait. Thank you to everyone for your support! I really truly appreciate all the reviews, followings, alerts and favs! This is the second to last chapter, so please enjoy!

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Chapter Ten

When would their nightmare end? That was the first thought that came to Fili's mind after Dorug reentered his and Kili's cell. Fili had finally started to rest and had just gotten Kili settled. Why did these creatures have to keep torturing them? It made no sense to Fili. He and his brother had never done anything wrong to these goblins. Why were they so dead-set on destroying everything in their lives? They had already taken their home and Mother away. Why keep hurting them?

Fili pulled Kili closer as the goblin walked to the middle of the cave and dropped something to the ground. The loud noise bouncing off the walls, made both boys flinch and hold each other tighter.

Dorug saw this and started laughing, "No need to worry little dwarf scum. Carrek wants you both alive, for now."

Dorug bent down to the bundle he dropped on the dirty floor and un-wrapped its contents. As the goblin slowly pulled the cloth away, the dwarf brothers tried to see what new horror they would have to face next. When the cloth was fully removed Dorug smiled at the terror on the young dwarf's faces, as they stared at the numerous knives and daggers in front of them. Suddenly Dorug snapped up a curved knife and leaped to his feet, with this motion Kili screamed in fear.

Dorug continued to laugh as he turned and walked to the front of the cave across from Fili and Kili. The evil creature dropped to the ground and sat back against the wall. He then started to slowly sharpen his knife, letting the sharp noise pierce painfully into both Fili and Kili's ears. The entire time Dorug was working with the blade, his eyes never left the young dwarves in front of him.

"Do you know what I use this knife for?"

Fili and Kili looked back at the goblin in fear, but did not answer him.

"I like to use this knife to skin my prey, alive. I think I'll be using it on whichever one of you Carrek gives me when this is all over." Dorug moved the blade back and forth making what little light in the cave bounce off the cold steel. "Not until after we have plenty of fun first though."

The boys still refused to answer Dorug, but he could see they had both started shaking. Not feeling satisfied with just this reaction Dorug leaped again to his feet, but this time he moved in close to Fili and Kili with the knife gripped in his hand.

Placing the newly sharpen knife in front of Fili's face Dorug spoke to the brothers with evil glee. "Maybe we should have some of that fun now!" Dorug then shifted the knife so it was now in front of Kili's face. "What do you think?"

Kili was crying quietly, his eyes never leaving the blade in front of him. Fili's eyes were also glued to the dangerous object so close to his baby brother.

Not knowing what to do, Fili tried to get the goblin's attention off of Kili. "Please, leave him be. If you want to anything, do it to me."

This comment made Kili more upset and his crying worsened. "No! Don't hurt my brother! Just go away! Please!

Dorug turned to look at Kili's crying face. "But if that is what his wants, then I think we should have a little fun." As Dorug was talking, he shifted his body so he was closer to Fili.

Fili tried to not show any fear, he didn't want Kili to try to stop what was going to happen, but his best efforts to stay brave were not enough. As Dorug drew closer, Fili's breathing quickened and he instinctually pressed his back further into the wall trying to escape.

Dorug was just in front of Fili, blade by his cheek, when a sudden commotion broke out in the main cave. Dorug's head snapped towards the noise and he jumped to his feet, rushing to the opening he saw that whatever the disturbance was had brought Carrek out of his throne room.

Dorug moved to leave and see what was happening, but before he left he turned back to the boys. "Stay put, or I will be using that knife sooner than expected." With that he left the boys alone in their cell, the goblin with one eye still guarding the door.

Dorug roughly pushed his way through the crowd of goblins to the middle of the camp where Carrek was standing. As Dorug moved closer he saw that the goblin sent out to bring back the hunting parties was standing awkwardly hunched over in front of Carrek, with blood flowing generously from his injured side.

"How many are there?!" Carrek roared to the dying creature.

The injured goblin trembled under the glare of his fuming leader. "It's a small group Carrek, with just a few dwarves among them."

"And are you certain that Thorin Oakenshield was with them?"

Nodding nervously the goblin replied, "Yes! He…he was with them."

Carrek laid his hands on the injured goblin's shoulders. "You have done well."

"Than…" The goblin's reply was cut short when Carrek unexpectedly broke the creature's neck.

As the body hit the ground Carrek looked up to the rest of his people, noticing Dorug Carrek waved him over impatiently.

When Dorug reached Carrek he did a quick dip of his head, "What can I do for you Carrek?"

"I want you to take the fair-haired dwarf and use him to get Thorin Oakenshield in a… cooperative mood."

Dorug laugh maliciously and smiled, "Yes Carrek. What about the other one?"

It was quiet for a moment before Carrek's hideous features twisted into a wicked smile. "Bring the little one to me and make sure Thorin knows I have him."

Feeling disappointed that Carrek didn't give the small dwarf to him Dorug reluctantly obeyed his leader's command. "It will be done immediately."

Carrek then turned to face the goblins gathered, with a vicious glint shining in his dark eyes and shouted, "Arm yourselves and prepare for our very special guest to arrive!"

* * *

Thorin and his group rushed after the injured goblin's blood trail in the hopes of getting to the creature, before it could alert the entire goblin camp to their presence. The group was moving quickly through the mines and had no intentions of slowing down. Thorin's mind was racing faster than they were moving, as the moved deeper and deeper into the darkness surrounding them. What would happen if they didn't get there in time? Were his nephew's still alive and if so what was happening to them? Will they ever be the same after this day? Thorin just could not shake these dangerous thoughts, and that worried him. His gut feelings had never been wrong and right now Thorin knew they were about to walk into something truly terrible.

As the dwarves rounded the last corner at top speed, they abruptly stopped dead in their tracks. The sight before them stopped Thorin's heart and took his breath away. He stood shaken to the core, as he looked at the horrible scene in front of his eyes.

Dorug and the goblin with one eye stood tall down the passageway, blocking the dwarves from the path that lead to the goblin's camp, but that was not what froze the dwarven warriors in place. What would haunt Thorin in many of his dreams to come was the sight of his eldest nephew being held firmly in front of Dorug, a wicked looking knife place against his throat. Tears ran down Fili's terror-stricken face and he was shaking violently in the goblin's grasp.

"UNCLE!" Fili shouted in panic when he saw his Uncle round the corner. Dorug pulled Fili closer to him with the outburst and leaned down to whisper into Fili's ear. Fili's eyes widened with what the goblin said and he started to nod his head desperately, crying again. With Dorug's head still by Fili's ear he looked up at Thorin with a sickening smile and after a moment straightened his body to stand tall once more.

The dwarves were watching the exchange fearfully and had started to very slowly get closer to Fili and his captors with weapons raised.

"Ah ah ah. I wouldn't move much closer Thorin Oakenshield, unless you want to watch me slit his throat."

The group stopped again and tensed their bodies, trying to stay in place. All the dwarves were breathing hard and clenching their teeth in an attempt to keep their tempers.

Thorin took one step forward and raised his hands up, showing that he had no weapon out. "It seems you know who I am, but I do not know you. Who are you and what do you want?" Thorin's voice was gruff and scratchy, as he tried to hide the emotions raging through his body.

"I am Dorug second in command to Carrek, sent by the goblin King himself and what we want is something we will discuss later. Perhaps in a more private setting." Dorug's eyes swept across the group before him. "Lower your weapons and step back all of you. Except you Thorin, you can come closer, but not too close."

The group stood still and silent too long for Dorug's liking so he pulled Fili's hair back, making him cry out in pain and exposing more of his vulnerable neck to the knife.

The result was instantaneous, "Do what he says!" Thorin yelled as he pulled out his sword and threw it to the ground in one swift motion. He then moved forward a couple of steps and stopped when Dorug pressed the knife closer to Fili's exposed throat. He could hear the banging of the other's weapons also hitting the ground, but the dwarves behind Thorin only stepped back one step. That was good enough for Dorug and he started to walk closer to Thorin dragging Fili with him.

Thorin was now only a few strides away from his terrified and injured nephew, but it might as well have been miles away. Thorin could do nothing to get his little nephew away from this awful creature, without getting him hurt in the process. So Thorin had one option available to him. He had to wait and see if an opening presented itself and if one did not, then he would do whatever the goblins wanted to insure his kin's safety. He promised his sister he would keep her boys safe and that is what Thorin would do, no matter the cost.

Fili had continued to cry the entire time the dwarves changed their positions, but after Dorug moved them both closer to his Uncle, Fili tried to calm himself and be brave. After taking several deep breaths Fili's eyes connected with Thorin's and sent out a silent plea for help.

"Fili are you alright?"

Fili wanted to shake his head at his Uncle, but the knife at his throat made it impossible, so he tried to speak. His voice came out broken and trembling, "No Uncle you have to hurry and help Kili! He's with that monster alone! Please!"

Dorug leaned down to Fili's ear again and spoke in a dangerous tone, "That's enough talking out of you. Speak again and I will take my anger out on your brother."

Fili began to panic again shaking his head he started to beg the creature holding him, "No please I'm sorry, don't hurt him. I won't talk again I promise."

Thorin's heart was breaking at the broken defeated tone in his nephew's voice. He had to do something to help him. "Fili…. FILI look at me!"

Fili's eyes snapped to Thorin's and he again saw the pleading in his nephew's eyes. Only now did Thorin fully realize it was not meant for himself but for his little brother Kili.

"Everything is going to be okay Fili. I will make sure nothing happens to you or your brother. I swear it."

Dorug straighten his body again and glared at Thorin. "How sweet that you think you have a choice in the matter Oakenshield."

Thorin turn his attention back to the vile creature before him. "What happens now Dorug?"

Dorug laughed tauntingly, "Now Thorin you and only you will be coming with me and your little nephew here to meet Carrek." Dorug turned his head to the goblin with one eye, "Tie his hands behind his back!" He ordered.

The goblin took a step towards Thorin, but Thorin took a step back. "Wait! Let my nephew go first and I will not fight you."

Dorug sneered, "Do you think I'm stupid! That the great Thorin Oakenshield would walk into the enemy's camp as a prisoner and not fight to escape!" The whole time Dorug yelled his grip on Fili tighten more and more until he yelped in pain.

"Yes I would because you already have my other nephew!" Thorin yelled desperately "Let Fili go and I will come with you quietly for Kili. You have my word."

Dorug thought about Thorin's offer for a few tense moments. "Fine, but if you try anything I want you to remember, the little one is still very much in danger."

Thorin nodded his head and Dorug released Fili. Fili ran to his Uncle, who dropped to his knees and pulled Fili to his strong chest. As Fili cried into his Uncle, he did not see that the dwarves who had been slowly and quietly closing the distance between them had attacked.

Bofur and Balin launched themselves at the goblin with one eye, striking him down quickly. Dwalin made his way past Thorin and Fili to Dorug, who by now knew what was going to happen. Dorug turned to run back to camp, but did not get very far as Dwalin's war hammer slammed into the creature's side. Dorug shrieked in pain and was thrown into the wall with the momentum of the blow. Dorug struggled to his feet, but suddenly felt a sharp pain explode through his body. Dorug looked down to see what happened and saw a sword imbedded in his chest, following the sword up to its owner. He looked into the cold piercing eyes of Thorin Oakenshield.

"This is for everything you did to my nephews." Thorin spoke to the dying creature in a quiet voice. As he slowly pulled his sword from its chest he continued with tears welling in his eyes, "And for my sister."

When the sword was fully removed, Dorug's dead body fell. Thorin then turned and rushed back to Oin and Fili in the middle of the passageway. Oin moved aside as Thorin approached the pair and Thorin held Fili close once more. Fili was still crying, but seemed to have calmed down enough to talk.

"Uncle… Please…. You have to save Kili!" Fili's words were frantic and his eyes panicked, as his breath came in short and ragged.

Thorin just held onto Fili tighter as he spoke to him. "Fili relax and breathe. We are going to get him back, I promise you."

Fili nodded and Thorin looked to Oin. "Look after him. Treat his injuries and keep him safe."

"He will be safe with me Thorin."

Thorin moved from Fili and turned to the rest of his friends, "We to need leave now before this…Carrek knows something is wrong. I will not lose Kili to this monster."

"We're with you laddie." Balin said with conviction.

Thorin's face was set with fierce determination. "Then let's move."

* * *

Yea! Fili has been saved! It's about time, poor boy. Sadly poor Kili is still in danger and Carrek is not a shiny happy person. What will happen to him? I guess you will have to find out in the last chapter, coming soon. As always thank you for reading and please let me know what you think. I have been waiting to finally write Dorug's death scene and hopefully it didn't disappoint. Enjoy the rest of your day!


	11. Chapter 11

Hi everyone! I know last chapter I said this would be the end, but I got a bit carried away and had to cut my final chapter in half. So this is the first half of the final and I will post the second in a few days! Also I know that the first part of this chapter might be confusing without explanation, because I decide to go back to before Fili has been rescued. I did this because I wanted to make it feel like the end half of this chapter is happening to Kili at the same time Fili is being saved by Thorin. Thank you all for your support and enjoy!

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Chapter Eleven

Dorug pushed his way back through the crowd of goblins to the makeshift cell where the dwarf brothers were being held. When he made it to the opening Dorug stopped and quietly talked to the goblin with one eye, after a moment the goblin nodded his head and briskly walked out of sight. Fili and Kili were in the same position that Dorug left them in and that brought a smile to the evil creature's face. Dorug slowly made his way to the young brothers and watch in delight when they tried to scramble away from him. After he had them backed into a corner Dorug bent down and plucked Kili up into his arms. The young dwarf struggled, but was quickly stopped when Dorug gripped his chin and made him look at his older brother.

Fili was now being held with a knife to his throat by the goblin with one eye, who had slipped back into the room unnoticed while Kili was fighting. Kili stopped struggling the second he saw his brother and closed his eyes to stop his tears from escaping. Dorug smiled at how easily he could manipulate the brothers, pathetic creatures and their emotions.

Patting Kili's cheek Dorug spoke to him in a patronizing tone, "Good boy. You learn quite fast, don't you? You will make an excellent pet."

"Don't touch him!" Fili yelled, ignoring the knife at his throat.

"Now…now, you are in no position to tell me what to do little dwarf scum." Just to make his point Dorug took one of his dirty long nails and sliced a cut across Kili's cheekbone, making him cry out.

"Enough of this Dorug, Carrek has a job for us to do and we should get on with it!" The one-eyed goblin snapped.

Dorug's eyes lingered on Fili's horrified face for a moment longer before he answered the goblin. "Yes, we will have time to play later."

Dorug walked close to Fili with Kili still trapped in his arms and stopped when he was just in front of the young dwarf. "Here is how this is going to work. You are coming with me and my friend here and you will not give us any trouble, or the little one here will pay the price. Do you understand?"

Fili looked into Dorug's cold and unyielding eyes and nodded his head in understanding. His eyes then slid to his younger brother's and he felt panic raise in his chest. What if he never saw his little brother again? No…they had to make it out of this, their Uncle would save them.

Shaking the horrible thought from his mind, Fili again looked at Dorug pleadingly. "I won't cause any trouble, just please leave him alone."

Dorug did not reply to Fili's plea, but instead lifted Kili closer to his face. "You pet, will be with our glorious leader while we are gone. If I were you I would not do anything to anger him. Do you understand?"

"No! You can't leave him alone with that monster! Please, I thought he was staying in here." Fili's voice started strong, but broke when the realization of what was really going to happen hit him. He was going to be separated from his brother and would not be able to protect him. Kili would be alone with the dangerous creature that killed even his own people.

Crack! Fili's head snapped to the side with the hard slap from Dorug, "Quiet! I wasn't talking to you!"

"It's okay Fili, don't make him mad. I'll be fine." As Kili was speaking to his brother in a quiet voice he reached out one of his small hands and squeezed his brother's hand.

"How sweet," Dorug spat with disgust and looked to the one-eyed goblin. "I'll take this one to Carrek. Meet me at the camp's entrance."

Dorug started to pull Kili away from Fili and the panic from before settled in Fili's chest again. "No Kili! Please don't do this!"

Kili's hand clung to Fili's as long as he could, but they were quickly torn apart. "Fili! No please let me go! Fili I'm scared, help!"

Both boys were crying and Fili started to fight with all his might against the one-eyed goblin, but it was no use. Kili was taken out of the cell and Fili could no longer see him, his baby brother was gone. The thought of leaving Kili alone and defenseless with these monsters made Fili feel as if he couldn't stand, so he dropped to his knees crying and let the goblin carry him to the entrance for whatever they had planned.

Kili had stopped struggling and screaming as soon as his brother left his sight and had instead decided to cry quietly in his captor's arms. He was terrified of what Dorug wanted with Fili and was worried that he would never see his big brother again, but Kili didn't know what to do.

He started to shake in fear the closer Dorug carried him to the throne room, but he had managed to stop his tears. He did not want to show weakness, warriors like his Uncle would not cry in front of the enemy. Kili's Uncle had often told him and Fili to be brave and that no matter what; he would always keep them safe. Where was their Uncle now? Why did he not protect them like he always promised? Kili's lip trembled again with these thoughts, but he refused to cry anymore. He took a shaky breath and tried to remind himself that their Uncle was coming, just like Fili said.

When Dorug and Kili entered the throne room it was just as bright as before and Kili had to squeeze his eyes shut to shield from the sudden brightness. The burning torches circled the small cave and in the middle of the room stood Carrek with his back to the entrance. Carrek's bare back was littered with scars that made him looked scarier than before to the young dwarf child.

Dorug approached Carrek slowly and dropped Kili heavily to the solid ground. Despite his best efforts the harsh impact with the ground made Kili whimper in pain. The noise drew Carrek's attention and he turned to face his prey with a predatory smile.

"I believe you have a job to do Dorug and I would suggest you do not disappoint me." As Carrek spoke to his second in command his eyes never left Kili's shaking body.

"I will not fail you Carrek. You will have Thorin Oakenshield soon."

Kili's head snapped up to look at Dorug at the mention of his Uncle. "Uncle Thorin! What are you going to do to my Uncle?!"

"Leave us!" Carrek yelled at Dorug, making both the goblin and Kili jump with fright.

Dorug bowed low and left the cave quickly, leaving Kili alone with Carrek. After Dorug left, the room was quiet except the panicked breath coming from the small terrified child. Carrek said nothing and remained in his spot staring at Kili for uncomfortable amount of time. Suddenly Carrek started to pace in front of the young dwarf, then circled him.

"What is your name dwarf?"

Kili looked up at the goblin with wide eyes and took a moment to process what was asked, "K…Kili."

Unexpectedly Carrek swiftly reached out and lifted Kili to his scarred chest. The young dwarf screamed in fear, but Carrek's mangled hand was placed over his mouth quickly silencing him.

Kili began crying again and as a tear slid down his face the evil goblin wiped it away with his thumb. "Shh do not cry little Kili. I still have much need for you."

Kili tried to stop his tears because he did not want to anger the goblin into hurting him or his brother when he returned. After Kili settled Carrek walked over to his throne and once he was seated, with Kili in his lap he removed his hand from the dwarf's mouth.

A final tear fell down Kili's cheek as he looked into Carrek's dark eyes, "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

Carrek titled his head to the side slightly and smirked at the sad dwarf, "What I want is your Uncle, but your brother is taking care of that as we speak."

Kili's voice trembled clearly upset, "Why do you want my uncle Thorin?"

Carrek's temper started to rise at the question and his grip on Kili tightened painfully. "I want power and through your Uncle is how I get it."

Kili gasped when the painful grip became too much, "Please stop….your hurting me."

Carrek laughed, but loosened his hold. "You are so young, still a babe. How did you and your brother survive the first attack?"

Kili shook his head, not wanting to tell the creature about his Mother's sacrifice. Carrek did not seem to mind that Kili didn't answer him, he just keep talking to the young dwarf in a quiet level voice.

"You and your brother have such spirit, no doubt from your family line. You could both become formidable enemies in the future…if you survive."

Kili whimpered and tried to turn his head away from the taunting creature, but Carrek gripped his jaw and held his head still.

"If for any reason you do survive I want you to remember this day, but young one lose early memories so easily." Carrek thought for a moment then smiled revealing his dirty blackened teeth. "I will just have to make sure you can never forget this day...or me."

* * *

Thorin dashed quickly down the passageway towards the goblin encampment and his youngest nephew, but was unexpectedly halted by a strong hand. Thorin was about to demand why Dwalin thought it was a good idea to stop him from saving Kili, when he heard what cause Dwalin's actions. There was crunching and a clattering of rocks down a dark passage to their right, the dwarves were on high-alert and readied themselves for a fight.

Thorin and Dwalin inched slowly towards the passage and raised their weapons, getting ready to attack. In a flash of activity Thorin swung his sword and a clash of noise could be heard as Thorin's sword was stopped by the handle of Bifur boar spear.

"Bifur! What are you doing here?" Bofur asked in a surprised whisper.

Bifur brought his hands up to sign to his cousin, "Our path led here." He then looked to Thorin and signed, "We stand ready." He made a sharp nod to Thorin and stood back with his weapon ready for battle.

Thorin thought maybe their luck was changing, because of this blessing they now had more dwarves to help with the attack on the goblin's camp. That hope died quickly when a sound that would haunt Thorin for the rest of his life broke through the quiet tunnels. All of the dwarves startled when they heard a bloodcurdling scream of agony that echoed off the cave's walls.

"KILI!" Thorin yelled and in a panic ran in the direction of his nephew's tortured scream.

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Evil cliffhanger! Sorry but this is really the most logical spot for me to cut the chapter in half. I promise the ending will be up quickly, I just need to edit and make sure the last half is posting worthy first. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review my chapters, the reviews keep me writing! I always appreciate your thoughts! Please share what you thought about chapter eleven, the beginning of the end. Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your day!


	12. Chapter 12

Here we are; the final chapter! I would like to dedicate this story to my wonderfully beautiful Mother. Thank you for letting me talk your ears off bouncing ideas around, for pre-reading all of my chapters and for all the confidence you have in me, even when I do not have it in myself. I would also like to thank everyone who has been a part of this wonderful journey with me. To all of you who have been reading, reviewing, following and added my story as a favorite I truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Enjoy

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Chapter Twelve 

All of the dwarves startled when they heard a bloodcurdling scream of agony that echoed off the cave's walls.

"KILI!" Thorin yelled and in a panic ran in the direction of his nephew's tortured scream. Not thinking Thorin burst into the goblin's camp without looking back to see if his dwarves had followed, without a strategy or plan, all that mattered was stopping Kili's pain NOW.

The goblins in the camp were taken by surprise by the lone dwarf breaking into their camp with a wild look in his eyes. The goblins started to make their way to Thorin laughing at their easy sport, when the rest of the dwarves jumped out behind Thorin and charged.

Bifur's group started taking down many of the goblins in the main camp and Thorin's group made their way swiftly to the tunnel in the back, where Kili's pain-filled crying could still be heard. However, before they could reach the tunnel a large group of goblins attacked Thorin's group, ducking under a wide sword Thorin sliced open the goblin's middle and jumped at the next foe.

Another scream from Kili sent Thorin over the edge and his attacks became desperate, trying with everything he had to make it to the tunnel to save his kin.

Balin cut down the goblin fighting Thorin and made eye contact with his King, "Thorin go! We can handle this, just get to Kili!

Thorin nodded his thanks and rushed past Balin quickly moving through the dark tunnel and arriving in a small bright cave. Thorin had to blink against the sudden brightness and when his sight returned to him, he almost wished it hadn't. In the middle of the small cave stood the largest goblin Thorin had ever seen, if he didn't know better he would have thought the creature to be an orc.

Carrek stood tall in front of his throne holding a trembling and sobbing Kili tightly in his arms. Kili was in worse shape than his brother with many different injuries, what worried Thorin the most was the sweat covering his much too pale face and the obvious tremors that racked his small body. Thorin had to breathe deeply to try to control his raging emotions, anger, sadness and fear all fought for domination in Thorin's mind. For a moment no one in the room moved, until Kili's pain glazed eyes landed on his Uncle.

Kili cried out in a hoarse cracked voice, "Uncle? Uncle! Please make him stop."

Thorin did not think ones heart could break into so many piece, but when he heard his youngest nephew's plea, his heart shattered. Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat Thorin clear his voice, he had to be strong for Kili. "It's alright Kili I'm here. I am not going to let him hurt you anymore."

Kili shook his head crying desperately, "Uncle they took Fili somewhere you have to find him. You….you have to save him!

"I found him Kili, your brother is safe."

Even in his dire situation Kili smiled slightly at the news that his brother had finally been saved.

Carrek started laughing at the exchange between uncle and nephew. Holding Kili with one arm Carrek used his other hand to pull out a sharp dagger from his waist.

"So this is the great Thorin Oakenshield. We meet at last. I have been searching for you far too long. It was luck really that brought your kin to me. I did not even know you had a family, let alone lived here."

Thorin glared at Carrek with enough hatred to kill, "Whatever you want with me does not involve my nephew. Let him go."

Carrek move the dagger close to Kili and held it in front of them both. "Drop your weapon," Carrek ordered calmly.

Thorin's anger flared, "Drop my nephew!"

Carrek smile darkly, "I don't think you fully understand the situation, Uncle Thorin. You do as I say or little Kili dies a horrible painful death right in front of your eyes. Now…drop…your…weapon."

Thorin steeled his face and dropped his sword to the ground, creating a loud bang. "There, I am unarmed. Now let my nephew go."

Just then Dwalin, Balin and Bofur ran into the cave behind Thorin.

"Wait! Stop! Do not attack him and lower your weapons." Thorin quickly ordered to the new arrivals. Each dwarf was looking at the scene in horror and took a moment to do what Thorin told them to.

After the dwarves were under control Thorin turned back to Carrek and growled, "Let him go."

"I think it would be best to take him with us. If the legend of Thorin Oakenshield is true, I may need him to keep you behaving."

Thorin started to walk closer to the creature slowly, "I will do what is necessary to keep my nephew safe."

"Good."

Suddenly faster than anyone could see Thorin had reach for his hidden knife and threw it into the goblin's shoulder making him drop Kili and fall backwards. Thorin dash forward grabbing his sword on the way and pulled Kili up safely into his protective arms, Kili clung to his Uncle and sobbed into his chest. With his nephew safely placed in his arms Thorin turned to where Carrek had fallen, only to see an empty space. Looking wildly around the room Thorin could not see the monster anywhere.

The other dwarves rush to Thorin and Kili's side, "He slipped out a tunnel in the back there." Bofur said pointing to a dark opening hidden from view.

"Balin and Bofur stay here and keep Kili safe." Thorin tried to hand is nephew to Balin, but Kili held him tighter. "Kili I need to go after him so you and Fili will be safe. Stay with Master Balin and Master Bofur for just a moment and I will be right back. Can you do that for me?"

It took a moment, but Kili nodded his head and let his Uncle pass him to Balin.

"Dwalin you're with me!"

Without a second thought Thorin and Dwalin plunged into the dark opening and raced after Carrek. They caught up with the goblin removing a large boulder that was blocking the exit to the mines, there was darkness behind the boulder showing that another day had past.

"CARREK!" Thorin bellowed "You are going to pay for every pain inflicted on my nephews!"

Carrek slowly turned back to face the dwarves laughing quietly. He now had a large wound in his shoulder that had blood leaking down his arm. He held Thorin's knife tightly in one hand and his dagger in the other, ready for a fight.

"Well I guess you will be making me pay for a great deal then." Carrek mocked.

Thorin yelled in rage and jumped at Carrek swinging his sword up in an attempted to cut the creature's head off. Carrek brought the knife up and block Thorin's blow with surprising ease and pulled his dagger up slicing Thorin's arm. Dwalin swung his hammer over his head and brought it down aiming for the goblin's already injured shoulder. Carrek saw the attack coming and dove into Thorin unexpectedly, taking them both to the ground.

Thorin's breath was knocked from his lungs, but he quickly recovered, kicking the large goblin off of him. Carrek landed heavily on the ground and the momentum from the kick sent him rolling into the side wall. Dwalin went to bring his hammer down on the creature a second time, when Carrek suddenly jumped at the dwarf and sunk his knife deep into Dwalin's leg. Dwalin grunted in pain and knocked Carrek back into the wall with a swing of his hammer. The goblin's body made a loud cracking sound as his head hit the wall. Dwalin stumbled back, pulled the knife from his flesh and readjusted his grip on his weapon. Thorin was already advancing on the stunned goblin, but Carrek wasn't finished yet.

Wiping blood from his mouth Carrek spoke, "It would seem that the legend of Thorin Oakenshield is true. Ha I should have known you wouldn't go down easily."

Thorin now stood in front of Carrek with his blade raised. "You will never lay a finger on my loved ones again." Thorin plunged his sword at Carrek's cold black heart and suddenly Thorin was thrown to the side by a goblin jumping on his back. A resounded thud could be heard through the room as Thorin's sword hit the stone wall next to Carrek's body, missing its target. Thorin struggled to pry the biting creature off of his back as Dwalin defended himself against the four new goblins that had entered the room. Thorin finally dislodged the goblin from his back, but had to immediately stop a blade headed for his side.

"Run my lord! I will distract them!" Tarr yelled to Carrek as his stood in front of his leader ready to defend him.

Carrek stood grinning, "Your sacrifice will not be in vain Tarr."

Thorin killed the goblin that attacked him and turned to see Carrek making his way to the exit. "NO!" Thorin yelled and ran at Carrek.

Tarr jumped in front of Thorin swinging his blade at his legs. Thorin jumped, barely avoiding the hit, his attention solely on Carrek's retreating form. Carrek turned his head back to smile at Thorin as Tarr stabbed at the distracted dwarf King.

"Thorin focus!" Dwalin bellowed slightly out of breath to the dwarf King's right.

Thorin shook his head briefly and focus on the fight at hand, knowing that the faster he killed these goblins the faster he could go after Carrek. Thorin let his anger drive his strength and each swing of his blade pushed Tarr back closer to the wall. Tarr fell to the ground when Thorin's sword cut the creature's hand off. The sniveling goblin screeched in agony, but his voice was cut short as Thorin's blade cut his head clean off its shoulders. Thorin turned and rushed to his friend's side to help kill the rest of the enemies. When they finished off the last goblin the ground was littered with many dead bodies and the floor was slick with goblin blood.

Thorin stood next to Dwalin both trying to catch their breath, covered in blood and grime. "He will be long gone by now." Thorin voice broke slightly in defeat.

"We will send out search parties. Thorin we will find him and bring him to justice."

Thorin nodded his head, "I need to get back to my nephews."

With those words the two dwarf warriors turned and moved swiftly back to Kili, Balin and Bofur. As Thorin and Dwalin neared the small cave they could hear that Kili was still crying and Balin and Bofur were speaking to him in quiet comforting voices.

"Your Uncle will be back soon lad, and then you can see Fili."

Thorin quickened his pace and burst into the room, moving quickly to Kili's side. "Kili." Thorin breathed out his nephew's name and picked the crying child up into his arms.

He let Kili continue to cry into his shoulder and started to rub soothing circles on his lower back. Thorin looked at Balin asking a silent question on Kili's health and Balin just shook his head sadly, dripping his head in the direction of the back of Kili's neck. Thorin shifted his gaze and carefully moved Kili's hair to the side in the hopes of seeing what Balin was referring to. When Thorin had moved his nephew's hair away he saw what troubled his aging advisor and it made the dwarf King feel sick. Kili had a horrible wound on the lower part of the back of his neck that looked like a burn created with something steel. The burn was an ugly red color and reminded Thorin of a branding. There was no doubt in Thorin's mind that it would leave a nasty scar, with tears welling in his eyes Thorin turned and hurried to get Kili to Oin.

Thorin breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the corner and saw Fili still safe with Oin. The moment Fili saw his Uncle he jumped to his shaky feet and ran to him. The dwarf King dropped heavily to his knees and let Fili leap into his arms before wrapping both of his nephews in a tight hug.

"Kili! Are you okay? I am so sorry I left you alone." Fili was sobbing as he clung to his Uncle and brother.

Kili turned to tiredly smile at his older brother and moved closer to him. "Fili! You're okay!"

Both boys cried and held on to each other as if their lives depended on it and Thorin stood holding his little nephews in each arm.

"Oin I need you to see to Kili injuries."

Oin looked at Thorin, "It would be best if we could get them to a house with a fireplace first. From where I stand I can see that young Kili is in shock and we need to warm him up quickly."

Thorin sent the healer a determined stare and quickly gave the order moved out.

Later that night after Oin had finished treating Fili and Kili wounds Thorin sat in a chair next to his bed as he watched the boys sleep under many blankets, wrapped up in each other's arms. The only light in the room was from the fireplace that made the bruises and cuts littering his innocent nephew's faces stand out all the more. Thorin slowly and carefully reached out his hand and brushed a stray hair from Kili's face, feeling the heat of his fever in the process. Shaking his head sadly, Thorin stood and kissed the top Fili and Kili's head. After watching his nephews a moment longer he turned and walked to the door were he noticed Balin stood watching him.

"How are they?" Balin whispered

Thorin answered his question in a gruff a scratchy voice. "Oin said they will heal, in time. Both boys are bruised, littered with cuts, dehydrated and half-starved. Fili has a broken wrist and the cut on his cheek is infected, but he was not hurt too much. Kili on the other hand has a concussion from a wound behind his ear, three cracked ribs, but worst of all is that awful burn on the back of his neck, the pain from receiving it sent him into shock."

Balin could hear the despair in Thorin's voice and he spoke to his King with hope. "It will be a hard road to recovery Thorin, but they will recover. The lads are stronger than most would think and they will get through this. You will help them get through this, we all will."

Thorin looked at Balin in the flickering light and saw the absolute certainty in his friend's eyes and knew he was right. They would get through this and nothing was ever going to break his family apart again.

* * *

In the utter blackness of night Carrek weakly walked up the final hill to his destination. The wind howled through the trees as the goblin entered the ruins. Still bleeding from his shoulder Carrek's blood dripped on the stone floor, leaving a trail in his wake. He sluggishly walked to a darkened figure and dropped to his knees, his head resting on his chest in exhaustion and defeat.

"You have failed to bring me what I want."  
Carrek looked up as the darkened figure turn around and descended the few stairs, now standing in front of his kneeling body.

"I almost had him. If I had more resources I could have finished the job." Carrek replied with a small amount of fear breaking through his careful voice.

"You know the deal I made you. I will help you kill and replace the Goblin King only after you have brought me Thorin Oakenshield, not before. You have failed me in this task and now I have no use for you."

The figure moved in close to kill the goblin, but before the killing blow could be made Carrek spoke with force. "I may not have brought you Thorin, but I have found a way to make him come to us."

The dark figure titled its head to the side. "How would you do that?"

Carrek smiled an evil and malicious smile. "You get to Thorin through his greatest weakness….his heart."

The dark figure walked past Carrek and into the torchlight revealing his pale skin. Azog the Defiler looked back at Carrek and smiled.

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There you have it! The end of A Family Broken! I hope the ending lived up to all expectations and everyone enjoyed the story. I had a wonderful experience writing my first fanfiction! I can't wait to get started on the next one, a sequel perhaps? Thank you again to everyone who supported my story! Please let me know what you guys thought. What was your favorite part of the story? I'd love to know! Until next time :)


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